'LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 






UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. ! 



* 




^ 




(B^iri^iictrt ^Sonxctrdiooh. 



Life of M.rs. jVL. K. Events, 



JFh?>& < 



INTRODUCTION. 



" A perfect Woman, nobly planned, 
To warn, to comfort, and command ; 
And yet a spirit, still and bright, 
With' something of an angel light." 



. " Her children arise up and call her blessed. Her husband, also 
and he praiseth her." 



CHICAGO: 

CHURCH AND GOODMAN, 
1868 




3xy 

,£?sW7 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1307, 
By CHURCH AND GOODMAN, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for 
the District of Northern Illinois. 



Chukch, Goodman and Donnelley, John Conaran, 

PaorrBRS, Stereotyper, 

10S and 110 Dearborn Street. 90 Washington Street. 



f 



REFACE. 




jJIOGRAPHY, as compared with Romance, 
labors under some difadvantage. The 
latter maj ignore faults, borrow angelic 
virtues, group in a lingle character every 
grace and charm, and weave a plot of 
circumftance that will develop every power, exhibit 
each beauty. 

But Biography deals with a humanity that mares 
our common nature, — is limited to the delineation of 
poffible virtue, and real, inftead of fuppofable, events. 
Thus real hiftory may never bring forth " fo true a 
lover as Theogones ; fo conftant a friend as Pylades ; 
fo valiant a man as Orlando ; fo right a prince as 
Cyrus ; and fo excellent a man in everyway as Virgil's 
./Eneas." 

But if Hiftory is " Philofophy teaching by example," 
then we need Biographies to teach the world the phi- 
lofophy of life, of felf control, of achievement, of en- 
durance, of fuccefs ; and the detailed character of the 
noble, the good, are worth to the world more than 



iv. ^Preface. 

any poffible conception of the ideal. The individual 
hiftory of fuch men as Wafhington or Lincoln affect 
the public mind more than the moft illuftrlous heroes 
of Romance ; and it is perhaps truly alleged that the 
life of Chrift is more powerful to convince the judg- 
ment, and influence the will, than even the attefta- 
tion of his miracles and wonderful utterances. 

Yet falfe ftandards of greatnefs have bewildered the 
judgment and mifled the confcience of the world, and 
while meretricious and fuperficial characteriftics have 
been exalted, fuperior virtues are ignored and forgot- 
ten. Mental balance and moral power rife higher in 
the true fcale of being than genius. The man Chrift 
Jefus might have chosen the higheftrank in literature, 
philofophy, or empire, but in refplendent philanthro- 
py he left us a conception of god-like virtue outweigh- 
ing worldly diftinctions. 

Although Mrs. Everts' education was early inter- 
rupted, and her whole life burdened with active duties 
and heavy cares, the variety and extent of her labors 
prove her endowments to have been of a rare order, 
and that, with leifure, fhe might have won reputa- 
tion for mental superiority. 

But, in our loving eftimation, fhe rofe far above 
litterateur, artift, or lyric queen, in her humble ap- 
proach to Chrift's life, — me gained the diftinction of 
rare virtue, of true philanthropy. 

But fome may afk why we intrude a private life 
upon the public ear. The leffons drawn from fimple 
individual experience are moft pertinent and capable 
of practical application. We may admire the heroifm 
and capacity by which a man of humble origin rifes 



^Preface. v. 

to become the faviour of his country in great crifes ; 
but our neighbor who fhelters the homelefs, and re- 
claims the erring, incites us to emulation as well as 
admiration — for we may grafp fuch opportunities, 
a like work lies at our door. 

There is a keen fenfe of fatisfaction in the reflection 
that truth, inftead of marring the fymmetry, is the 
only embellifhment of the following hiftory. Without 
difguife, as free from exaggeration as impartial criti- 
cifm could fuggeft, its effectivenefs depends folely 
upon its faithfulnefs. But how bold the attempt to 
write the hiftory of a life, to mirror the many days of 
each year, with their diftinctive work and phafes of 
feeling. The tafk faithfully performed, will but re- 
femble the fcene " On 'Change," where the merchant 
confummates the fale of a cargo that heavily freights 
the veffel, with but the fample that he carries in a lit- 
tle box. Or the fign-poft, on the roadfide, whofe 
index-finger points the way, round the mountain-fide, 
through the valley, and over the river, but can not tell 
the traveler of the little inn where refrefhment waits, 
of the bit of woodland the road fkirts, or the quiet 
beauty of a Iheltered lake. 

No ambitious attempt at book-making would have 
infpired this volume, but the burden of a facred truft, 
and the courage of a lofty purpofe. She did not be- 
long exclusively to one church or one denomination ; 
but, as a judicious friend remarks, "Her life affords a 
leffon for the next generation." She was not a 
woman of one fhining gift — the could not be ranked 
with the few whofe genius characterizes an age. Nor 
did the circumftances of her life remove her from the 



vi. "Preface. 

ordinary routine which conftitutes the life of moft of 
her fex. But in entire confecration her daily walk 
became a facrificial life ; and if in a ftudy of its record 
any learn the beauty and dignity of Chriftian Woman- 
hood, then fhe, "being dead, ihall yet fpeak." 

The onenefs of aim and intereft in Mrs. E.'s relation 
with her hufband can hardly be overftated. Not only 
through the enthufiafm of affection, but by the intereft 
of a co-laborer was this unity perfected. Jointly with 
him fhe wrought : her life of action, thought and feel- 
ing was identical with his own ; and for this reafon, 
the narration of her life neceffitates the frequent no- 
tice of her hufband's labors. 

Although the limited choice of correfpondents from 
whom we gain the moft of Mrs. E.'s letters are not 
exhauftive of her friendfhips, they ferve as types each 
of a clafs. Mifs S. was the friend of almost her life- 
time. Affociated intimately with her early remem- 
brances, a peculiar tendernefs guarded their inter- 
courfe. During her laft illnefs, after many fleeplefs 
days and nights, with intenfe wearinefs in look and 
voice, fhe said. " If I get well, I mnjl reft. Perhaps 
E. S. will want me to come to her." Mr. P. was the 
friend who. during Mr. Everts' failing health, more, 
perhaps, than any other, advifed and furthered the 
voyage and travel which promifed reftoration ; and, 
during his enforced abfence, was unfailing in thought- 
ful kindnefs for the lonely family. The moiftened eye 
often attefted her grateful appreciation of his almoft 
brotherly kindnefs. Mrs. P., a fouthern woman, of 
decided character and ability, was the warm perfonal 
friend of her later years. Although each was diftin- 



^Preface. vii. 

guifhed by peculiarity of birth and education, yet 
there was a congeniality which afferted itfelf, and the 
generous affection which, in time of trial, only clung 
the clofer, was dearly prized. 

Mrs. Everts' character fupplied to her hufband, the 
ftudy on Chriftian Womanhood which introduces the 
ftory of her life. Thus fuggefted, revived and deliv- 
ered as a difcourfe, in the tender gratitude of an ex- 
pected convalefcence during her laft illnefs, it became 
the husjband's fitteft offering to the memory of a faint- 
ed wife. 

E. E. WRENN. 



Contents. . 



INTRODUCTION. 

PAGE 

I. Condition of Woman - - - - 5 

II. Physical Culture ----- 9 

III. Intellectual Culture - 16 

IV. Domestic Culture ----- 23 
V. Spiritual Culture - - - - 31 

VI. Our Friends in Heaven - - - 51 

LIFE OF MRS. M. K. EVERTS. 

I. Parentage and Childhood 63 

II. Christian Profession 68 

III. Budding Christian Character 73 

IV. Mother's Death 86 

V. Established Character -* - 98 

VI. Marriage and Removal - - - - 121 

VII. A New Home ----- I2 8 

VIII. Home Life ------ 139 

IX. Shadow on the Hearth - 148 



Contents, 

PAGE 

X. Shadow and Sunshine - 171 

XI. The Country Home - - - - 179 

XII. Busy and Anxious days - 190 

XIII. The Southern Home - - - 203 

XIV. Pleasant Years 208 

XV. Time and Change 220 

XVI. The Last Home 234 

XVII. Mistress, Wife, and Mother - 244 

XVIII. Church Life 252 

XIX. Public Life ------ 260 

XX. Scattered Leaves - - - - - 271 

XXI. The Last of Earth 333 

XXII. Funeral Wreath 348 



CHRISTIAN WOMANHOOD. 



Condition of Woman. 

"The Christian religion alone presents woman to man 
as a companion; every other abandons her to him as a 
slave." 

fERFECTED womanhood, where 
I shall we find it ? ]Not in history. 
From earliest ages, in the East, 
man might sell his wife into 
slavery, or even adjudge her to death. 
Still, in India, by law and tradition, she is 
denied social equality with man. She may 
not promenade the city, or walk the coun- 
try, without special permission and atten- 
dance. She may not sit at a feast, or ap- 




6 Christian Woma?i?iood. 

pear on any public occasion. At the fam- 
ily meal she stands obsequiously behind 
husband or son as servant, and satisfies her 
dignity and hunger with the remains of 
the repast. In Western Asia she has long 
been a conspicuous article of commerce, 
and a make-weight in diplomacy. In 
Africa she is sold for cowries, as a dog or 
a sheep. In the Russian language, soul 
designates male slave, as if woman was not 
worth counting in property. A nobleman 
was worth so many souls — that is, male 
servants. 

Not even in the most .pretentious civili- 
zation, ancient or modern, do we find 
a perfected womanhood. Syria, Babylon, 
Egypt, Greece, have not bequeathed it to 
the world. Rome, which conquered the 
world three times — once by its arms, once 
by its language, and once by its religion — 
could hardly name one truly noble woman 
for each century of its supremacy, and has 
furnished no example of woman's ideal ex- 
cellence. And, while modern civilization 
has failed to raise woman to possible per- 
fection, among the lower classes, she is still 



Condition of Woman. 7 

the servant and drudge of man. In parts 
of Europe she is devoted to menial em- 
ployments of the field, sometimes har- 
nessed, to plow or drag, with ox or ass. 
In large cities she is left to almost hopeless 
degradation. In London alone there are 
supposed to be forty thousand needle-wo- 
men, living but one degree above the star- 
vation point. And in cities of this coun- 
try, the proportion of suffering, as of vicious 
women, is almost as great. 

Nor do we find our ideal of womanhood 
yet represented by art. Whether in the 
sculptor's Eve or Yenus, the lovely Slave 
or the glorious Zenobia, or in the painter's 
conception of Madonna or Magdalen, the 
Sancta Csecilia or Beatrice; however beau- 
tiful these in themselves, assimilated to 
the materialism of the artist and the age, 
they have not satisfied the search for the 
model woman. 

Nor hitherto in the annals of the Church 
has that female perfection been disclosed. 
Though the Hebrews were exalted above 
cotemporary nations, a collector of biogra- 
phy has found among the inspired annals 



8 Christian Womanliood . 

only eighteen worthy of notice ; and even 
among these were embraced such doubtful 
characters as Jezebel and the Witch of 
Endor. In the New Testament, none are 
distinguished for genius, intellectual cul- 
ture or art, and only some half dozen for 
the higher qualifications of piety and cha- 
rity. 

Immature religious beliefs, even Sweden- 
borgianism in its poetic mysticism, Atheism 
itself, have incorporated as a creed, or sug- 
gested the future of a perfected and glori- 
fied womanhood. Compte, the French 
atheist, says, " We only want, and shall 
have, the glory of woman to worship." 
This longing of humanity, thus voiced in 
faith, we shall only find realized in the new 
prophecies of human progress and woman- 
ly development, awakened by Christianity. 
In Christian womanhood perfection may be 
sought — will be attained. 



n. 

Physical Cultuf^e. 

The body is the mind's casket; in normal condition 
it guards and displays the jewel; disordered or enfeebled, 
it exposes it to be tarnished or destroyed. 




[HKISTTAN womanhood must be 
developed through normal physi- 
cal culture. The Kose springs up 

1 from the ground ; by untraced 
processes derives its beauty and fragrance 
from earthly mould, and is lifted up into 
the air, and held firm against wind and 
tempest, by a homely stalk rooted in the 
soil. Forgetting its lowly dependence, it 
droops and dies in an hour ; or its commu- 
nication with the earth impaired, propor- 
tionately loses beauty and fragrance. So 
the human soul rises into being through 
earthly media, spreads the first tender 
leaves of thought, sentiment, and feeling 
1* 



io Christian Womanhood, 

over the surface of material life. And 
though rising toward heaven in intellectual 
stature and moral elevation, its dependence 
upon the body is as constant and vital as 
that of tree or flower upon the ground for 
the nourishment of stalk, stamen, calyx, 
petal, color, or fragrance. 

The floral system is not more affected 
by climate, soil, and diversity of culture, 
than material beauty and graces of woman- 
hood by varying physical conditions. The 
Dandelion, Hollyhock, or Sunflower are 
not farther removed from the beauty of 
Lily, Rose, or queenly Magnolia, than the 
average character of womanhood from its 
ideal conception. Through long ages, over 
dark lands, the flower of womanhood has 
been dwarfed, paled, and scentless. And 
even in civilized nations, its beauty and 
fragrance have been but partially develop- 
ed. With some, styles of dress stifle respi- 
ration, confine the motions, and expose the 
most sensitive parts of the body. With 
others, unseasonable or stimulating diet 
taxes digestion, inflames the blood, engen- 
ders or aggravates functional disorders. 



?P?iy steal Culture, \\ 

"With others, want of exercise enfeebles the 
pulse, renders languid the circulation, and 
brings on nervous irritability or prostra- 
tion. While with others, unsuitable em- 
ployments or dissipating amusements over* 
tax the vital powers, and precipitate decline^ 
consumption, and death. 

All these evils impair the strength and 
beauty of womanhood, and hasten at once 
the decay of her charms and her life. The 
preceptress of one of the largest female 
seminaries in an Eastern city, recently, in 
deploring the neglect of physical culture in 
female education, said there was scarcely 
one of the whole number of her pupils who 
might not be regarded as a fit subject for 
medical treatment. We fear a careful 
examination, one by one, of all our schools 
and families would lead to the same sad 
report. 

*' 111 health is so much the normal condi- 
tion of feminine existence here," says a 
public writer, " that many women, who 
have never had a well day in their lives, 
actually declare and believe themselves 
healthy. Let them apply to themselves 



12 Christian Womanhood. 

the test of a celebrated physician: 'A 
healthy woman/ says Dr. Meigs, ' has no 
experimental knowledge of back, sides, 
head, lungs, stomach, liver, or any other 
organ ; she is conscious of herself only 
as one perfect) elastic, and life-enjoying 
whole!'" 

A generation of slaves in Cuba, it is esti- 
mated, is killed off by work in seven years. 
Generations of women are as surely, if not 
as rapidly, killed off by the accomplish- 
ments, fashions, and follies of modern 
civilization, and ignorance and disregard 
of the laws of life. Compare granddaugh- 
ters with grandmothers in stature, develop- 
ment, erectness, power of endurance, and 
probability of long life. Tapering down 
at the present rate, the race would soon 
vanish altogether, but for the grafting in 
of healthier stock from humbler life, the 
transfer of plebeian blood through aristo- 
cratic veins. 

As the Roman empire was recuperated 
by the incorporation of a hardier stock of 
barbarians ; as cities derive fresh material 
of health and vitality from rural and moun- 



^Physical Culture. 13 

tain districts, so the vigor of effeminate 
peoples is ever recuperated from hardier 
races. Anakim children of hard-working 
laborers come up every two or three gene- 
rations, with their great heads and strong 
arms, like Gullivers among Lilliputians, 
and pluck away all the wealth, honors, and 
prizes of life from descendants of degene- 
rate races. "With fewer intellectual and 
moral .achievements, and enfeebled health, 
is lost the happiness of life. 

1 1 Now Spring returns, but not to me return 
The vernal joys my better years have known. 
Dim in my breast life's dying taper burns, 
And all the joys of life with health have fled." 

In seeking the development of a true 
womanhood of the individual and of the 
race, there must be a primary and due re- 
gard to physical culture. The blooming 
cheek, the developed form, the elastic step, 
the commanding mien, softened to grace- 
fulness ; the flowing spirits lighting up the 
countenance with joy, and ringing out in 
the merry laugh; and even power of en- 
durance, noble purpose and lofty achieve- 



14 Christian Woma7i?iood, 

nient, entering so largely into our ideal 
conception .of woman, confirming to her 
that power that " rules the camp, the court, 
the grove ;" are mediately the gift of health. 
Its subversion is like removing the founda- 
tion of a graceful temple, precipitating it 
into shapeless ruins. 

This higher physical culture is due to 
woman's own well-being, achievement, and 
happiness. Why should she pine so soon 
in faded loveliness ? Why tenant so early 
the sick-room darkened with sorrows — 
the dying chamber shaded with gloom ? 
It is also due to the well-being and happi- 
ness of man. Why should he so soon be 
bereft of her companionship and solace? 
Why left so soon to cast his shadow alone 
on the hillside of life ? But it is preemi- 
nently due to the elevation and progress of 
the race. Spurzheim, the distinguished 
naturalist, declares that the physical culture 
of woman is more important to the welfare 
of the race, than that of man. From en- 
feebled mothers will be born a degenerate 
race. With increasing vitality in women, 
and progressive application of the laws of 



Physical Culture. \$ 

life, the race may rise to hardier character 
and greater power. The little girl may 
more surely be trained up in healthy devel- 
opment, or recovered from deformed bias 
or sickly condition, than tree or plant, and 
endowed with strength for the duties and 
pleasures of a true life. 

As this culture advances, we may oftener 
admire in the parlor, the health still bloom- 
ing in the kitchen ; in the higher walks of 
life, the freshness and vigor still manifested 
among the industrious poor ; among Amer- 
ican ladies, the more developed form and 
ruddier m cheek adorning English women. 
Then, in physical endowment, as of the 
most distinguished matrons of Greece and 
Rome, and the most worthy mothers of 
England and the Eepublic, will be laid the 
foundation for longer life, and more distin- 
guished intellectual and moral achievement. 
Then woman, and the race, commencing 
from these rudiments of being, may rise 
to their destined greatness, glory, and hap- 
piness. 




rn. 

Intellectual Culture. 

11 A soul without reflection, like a pile without inhab- 
tant, to ruin runs." 

IHRISTIAN womanhood must 
also be attained through a varied 
intellectual culture. Woman's 
capacity for varied mental de- 
velopment and achievement requires no 
proof. Hypatia, while in the bloom of her 
beauty, declared the first philosopher of her 
age ; Eudocia, who found leisure amid re- 
gal dignities, for cultivating philosophy 
and rhetoric; Zenobia, Marie Theresa and 
Elizabeth, great in Empire; Madame Ro- 
land and De Stael, peers of the social phi- 
losophers of their time ; Mrs. Sommerville 
and Caroline Herschel, illustrious in sci- 
ence; Rosa Bonheur and Miss Hosmer, 
eminent in art; Mrs. Browning, our " fe- 



Intellectual Culture. 



• l 7 



male Milton;" Siddons and Bachel, queens 
of the stage; Jenny Lind, the incompara- 
ble songstress; and now the remarkable 
young orator, Anna Dickinson ; all attest 
her varied mental endowments. And yet 
woman has never been encouraged to de- 
velopment. These attained fame only 
through the inherent power of genius, 
with unusual aids of cultivation and appre- 
ciation. We will never know of the 
" mute, inglorious Miltons," the embryo 
scholars, painters and philosophers, that 
the world has lost, through cramping cir- 
cumstance and chilling neglect. Woman 
has been ranked scarcely above the birds 
of brilliant plumage or beautiful song, fit 
for the gilded cage in the boudoir; the 
graceful swan that sails in the garden lake ; 
or the deer that may gambol at pleasure in 
the enclosed woodland. 

The debasement of women is enforced 
primarily by denying her that develop- 
ment of reason which could assert her 
rights, and redress her wrongs. Woman's 
education in the East has been confined to 
those superficial accomplishments of beau- 
2 



18 Christian Womanhood. 

ty, graceful manners, and arts of fascina- 
tion, which might adapt her to please man, 
but not such as to inspire a sense of indi- 
vidual rights and responsibility. When 
missionaries remonstrate against such dis- 
trust of mental culture, they are told, 
" Education does very well for English or 
American women, but not for ours. They 
would cease to be contented and subordi- 
nate." Thus their eyes are put out that 
they may not explore ways of escape from 
their social condition. 

The standard of female education in 
modern and Christian nations has been too 
far assimilated to the views of the oriental 
defamers and oppressors of woman. Too 
many, now, believe woman is perfectly de- 
veloped by fine figure, fine complexion, fine 
manners, fashionable dress, and other 
showy accomplishments, though the mind 
is left unfurnished. By disproportioned at- 
tention to this order of culture, they seem 
to despise mental endowments and acquisi- 
tions of knowledge. When following the 
Eoman army in a war against Persia, the 
rude German soldiery were pillaging the 



Intellectual Culture. 



*9 



royal tents of Parses, they were filled with 
wonder at the luxurious and elegant arts 
of the East, but they were ignorant of the 
value of the most precious of the spoils. 
The shining leather bag that contained the 
precious pearls of the king, they greatly 
admired and cherished as an elegant and 
useful trophy, but the pearls it contained 
they scattered on the ground as useless 
pebbles. So, many dazzled with the exter- 
nal investiture and adornments of wo- 
manly character, appreciate not the pearls 
of intellectual and moral endowment. 

Trained under these false views, many a 
beautiful young lady can carry free and 
animated conversation no further than the 
gossip of the daily press, the last fashion- 
plate, or some recent development of scan- 
dal. For such the poet has already pre- 
pared an epitaph : 

11 Here lies, now a prey to insulting neglect, 
What once was a butterfly, gay in life's beam; 

Want, only of wisdom, denied her respect, 
Want, only of goodness, denied her esteem. 



20 Christian Womanhood. 

Now a higher order of intellectual cul- 
ture is opening to woman the elevated and 
refining pleasures of knowledge and art. 
She will have sources of contentment and 
happiness within herself, protecting her 
from the temptations of seeking all enjoy- 
ment abroad. And beyond the supple- 
ment of her pleasures, she needs such cul- 
ture to fit her for her mission and useful- 
ness. If the classics enrich and embellish 
the mind, she requires these advantages as 
well as man. If mathematics strengthen 
the reason, correct the judgment, and free 
from the delusions of fancy, woman re- 
quires such rectitude of understanding, 
and regulation of fancy, as well as man. 
But as the providential teacher of the 
world, high culture is especially important. 
An Indian chief said, in the early efforts 
to evangelize his tribe, the missionaries in- 
structed the boys. But as they grew up 
and married uneducated girls, they relapsed 
into barbarism with their families. "Now," 
he says, " we educate the girls, and they, 
educating the rising generation, the whole 
tribe advances in civilization. " 



Intellectual Culture, 21 

Gradually higher and juster views of 
woman's education obtain. A more lib- 
eral culture is produced in common schools 
and higher seminaries; and Yassar College 
is a way mark of progress. The idea is be- 
coming rooted in the public mind, that a 
thoroughly educated woman is not only 
ornamental but useful ; that her cultivated 
resources are not only to refine but may 
also instruct- society; that she may influ- 
ence votes, if not at the ballot-box, yet by 
the intelligent use of her intuitions and 
the exercise of her reasonable influence ; 
that she may aspire to professions and 
forms of business long closed to her igno- 
rance, thus raising herself beyond disaster, 
or the belittlements of idleness ; that she 
may use and guard property intelligently ; 
in short, that she may be a thinking and 
working partner in the great business of 
life. Thorough and varied education is to 
solve the social problems of woman's life, 
.her work, her influence, her rights; which 
have engrossed attention, provoked discus- 
sion, and even stormy debate. 



22 Christian WomanJiood . 

Woman's education furnishes a scale on 
which to measure the progress of civiliza- 
tion. When Antony, after returning from 
Egypt, was discoursing to the Roman no- 
bles of its peculiarities, he is reported as 
saying : " Thus do they, sires — they take 
the plane of the Nile by certain scales of 
the pyramids, and they know by the height, 
lowness or mean, whether dearth or foison 
follow. The higher Nilus swelleth, the 
more it promiseth." Female education ia 
the Oleometer of society. It gauges the 
comparative advancement of individuals, 
nations, ages. The higher it rises in intel- 
lectual and moral tone, the further it 
reaches, in invigorating influence, the 
wider and more affluent harvests of know- 
ledge, virtue and happiness. 



IV. 

Domestic Culture. 

* ' The modest virgin, the prudent wife, or the careful 
matron, are much more serviceable in life than petticoated 
philosophers, blustering heroines, or virago queens. She 
who makes her husband and children happy, who reclaims 
the one from vice, and trains up the other to virtue, is a 
much greater character than ladies described in romance." 

I1KUE womanhood must be authen- 
I ticated through industrial skill 

and occupation in the family. 

Industry is the necessity of most 
women — the duty of all. The family is 
the primary and most important sphere of 
her employment. The order of the house- 
hold is peculiarly confided to woman, as 
husbandry of field, manufactures, com- 
merce, and civil affairs, to man. Ignorance 
of Blackstone, or the Constitution and laws 
of a Commonwealth, does not more surely 
disqualify one for the practice of law ; or 




24 Christian Womanhood, 

ignorance of physiology, diagnosis of dis- 
ease, and efficiency of remedies, for the 
practice of medicine ; or ignorance of Scrip- 
tures, theological institutes, and church 
history, for profession of religious teachers, 
than ignorance of household economy in- 
capacitates woman for her appointed sphere 
and occupation. 

It may be that Providence denies some 
women the headship of a home, but it is 
none the less her peculiar mission to carry 
the atmosphere of sweet homeliness with 
her, wherever she is — in the traveler's tent, 
or the crowded hotel, the invalid chamber, 
or the neglected nursery, as teacher, friend, 
sister, or aunt, it is her privilege to tax her 
ingenuity and use her deft fingers for the 
nameless and numberless little acts which 
serve, as the garden paling on the moun- 
tain side, to enclose home-cheer from 
world's desolation. 

In portraying the model woman of the 
patriarchal ages, Solomon, passing over 
highly appreciated accomplishments, gives 
singular prominence to domestic industry 
and skill; "She seeketh wool, and flax, 



domestic Culture. 



25 



and worketh willingly with her hands. 
She is like the merchants' ships ; she bring- 
eth her food from afar. She riseth also 
while it is yet night, and giveth meat to 
her household, and a portion to her maid- 
ens. * * * She layeth her hands to the 
spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. 
She stretcheth out her hands to the poor ; 
yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the 
needy. She is not afraid of the snow for 
her household : for all her household are 
clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself 
coverings of tapestry ; her clothing is silk 
and purple." 

The model woman of the ancient Rom- 
ans was also distinguished by the same 
domestic virtues. It was customary for the 
bride to be escorted to the house of her 
husband by a retinue of friends, and among 
these, one bearing a spindle and distaff. 
Upon their approach, being interrogated : 
" Who comes there ?" in attestation of 
the received standard of womanly accom- 
plishments, their answer was : " Caia," in 
memory of " Caia " Csecilia, wife of Tar- 
2* 



26 Christian Womanhood. 

quin the Elder, celebrated for her habits of 
industry and virtue. 

The most honored women of succeeding 
ages, and all lands, have possessed the same 
accomplishments ; and, instead of being 
ashamed of labor, have gloried in indus- 
trial accomplishments. Madame De Stael, 
upon being complimented for her skill on 
the guitar, answered : " It is not for such 
things that I value myself, but that I have 
the command of fourteen several occupa- 
tions, by either one of which I could main- 
tain my independence." When Lafayette 
last visited this country, he found the 
mother of Washington in the field, super- 
intending the affairs of the farm ; and all 
the worthy mothers of the Revolution knew 
how to order their houses, so as to make 
them conservators of happiness, virtue, and 
greatness ; and prevent the nameless evils 
of ennui, discontent, and dissipation. 

These employments furnish a recreation 
for mind and body, which are in the high- 
est degree healthful and enlivening, while 
the moral effect is not the least advantage. 
The fact of working for the benefit of others, 



Domestic Culture. 



2 7 



the family community, tends to overcome 
the taint of selfishness in our nature, and 
refines what might seem drudgery and too 
wearing care, into a noble phase of life's 
work. Domestic responsibilities also guard 
the relation of mistress and servant from 
ignorant abuse, securing the one from op- 
pression, the other from imposition. 

Domestic taste and ability are not only 
valuable in the prosperous course of daily 
life, but in the sudden disaster of commer- 
cial revulsions, when suffering under the 
blight of business frauds — perhaps the vic- 
tim of some terrible casualty, or smitten by 
wasting disease — afflicted by any one of 
the causes which so frequently embarrass 
the husband and father, the wife or daugh- 
ter who, besides the heroism for sacrifice, 
has the trained capacity that will lighten 
exertion, the judgment and economy that . 
can multiply resources, may be the saviour 
of her family honor and happiness. A few 
years ago, a Fifth Avenue merchant made 
an assignment. Sadly he returned that 
night to break the dreadful secret to his 
wife. Endowed with practical sense, and 



28 Christian Womanhood, 

accomplished in household economy, as 
well as with an affectionate heart, she threw 
her arms around her husband's neck, and 
cheered him with assurances of her sympa- 
thy and hope. " It will all turn out for the 
best. We can live most comfortably in a 
small house, in a quiet country place. I 
can wash, iron, and bake, make garments 
for the children, besides doing something 
for those poorer than ourselves." The 
bankrupt took heart and hope, and the 
family saved from social and moral wreck 
— far more serious than pecuniary ruin. 

In this sphere true womanhood must be 
developed ; manifested through her primal 
duties, reflected from domestic virtues and 
accomplishments. It is more important 
that she be faithful at home than shine 
abroad, receive the benedictions of parents 
than the flattery of strangers, the caresses 
of brothers and sisters than the compli- 
ments of the selfish and designing world. 
"We should go to the home-circle, and not 
to the assembly-room, the party, the water- 
ing-place, to ascertain the rank and worth 
of woman. The mother's diploma is more 



^Domestic Culture. 29 

important than the preceptor's; standing 
at home, than abroad. 

Disdaining her appointed sphere, and 
neglecting or poorly attending to her pro- 
per duties, woman can not attain the high- 
est excellence and destiny of her being. 
But, faithful in her providential home, be 
it never so homely, she can make it an 
Eden. Though a small estate is enclosed, 
a small cot is reared upon it, let industry 
and taste adorn and furnish it ; and while 
the rose and the honeysuckle are trained 
over its walls, let peace and contentment 
dwell within, and light up every day with 
joy and hope, and woman's highest mission 
is accomplished. 

"What greater work can she do than pro- 
vide homes for the race ? As they are bet- 
ter ordered, adorned, and rendered more 
happy, humanity advances by surest steps 
of progress. " She who applies her mili- 
tary instincts to the discipline of her house- 
hold; her legislative faculties in making 
laws for the nursery ; whose intellect and 
ambition have scope enough, in common 
with her husband, in seeking the improve- 



3° 



C?irislicm Womanhood, 



ment of her children ; who does not think 
it a weakness to attend to her toilet, and 
does not disdain to be beautiful ; who has 
faith in the virtue of glossy hair and well- 
fitting gowns ; who speaks little, and not 
with assumption ; who is patient and gen- 
tle, and adjusts with a smile, instead of 
reasoning or scoldiug ; who is the wife we 
have all dreamed of once in our lives, and 
who is the mother we still worship in the 
backward distance of the past, is the true 
woman, acting more for humanity — for 
woman's cause — than all the captains, bar- 
risters, judges, or members of Congress in 
the land." It is in the family that woman 
may mend the vices of society in the detail, 
and build up the virtues of humanity in 
their indestructible principles and comple- 
mental order. 




V. 

Spiritual Cult/uf^e 

u So free, so kind, so apt, so blessed a disposition, she 
holds it as a vice in her goodness not to do more than 
she is requested." 

|EUE womanhood attains perfect 
development through spiritual 
culture. It is only in this high- 
er phase of development that 
woman receives the crown of her sex's 
glory and dominion, only as the arbiter of 
heart and conscience can she assume the 
power she inherits by divine right — of 
ruling the race. The culture that will 
fully develop woman's spiritual nature 
must he of three-fold character, regarding 
her, first, as the Natural Dispenser of Chari- 
ty ; second, as the Conservator of Conscience; 
third, as the Priestess of Religion. 



32 Christian WomauJiood '. 

Man's charity is excited by conscience, 
example and appeal, but woman's is intui- 
tive, spontaneous, perpetual. Distress may 
arrest man's attention ; it could not escape 
woman's. Priest and Levite may pass by 
without relieving humanity, wounded and 
bleeding by the wayside : woman never. 
"Woman's love, free, disinterested and per- 
sistent, surpasses all limits of character, 
class or condition, equals the emergencies 
of necessity or suffering, and in imminent 
danger becomes heroic and daring. 

Almost a whole village had assembled 
to see the pulling down of an old church, 
to give place to a more tasteful structure. 
The ropes had been fastened to the spire, 
and as it swayed to and fro under the 
strain of the ropes, a lone white dove was 
seen flying round and round as if instinc- 
tively apprehending the impending danger, 
but not daring to fly in to shelter her im- 
periled brood. As it reeled and tottered 
to the fall, the distress of the bird hushed 
the shouts and riveted the gaze of the men 
at the ropes below. As, at length, the tim- 
bers gave way, and the old steeple began to 



Spiritual Culture. 33 

fall, the dove poised a moment on her 
wings and then darted up into it out of 
sight, to protect or share the ruin of her 
young. Amid the wreck of timbers and 
fragments of a dove-cote, was found the 
poor dove lying between her two young 
ones — all three dead. The genius of wo- 
man's charity is this lone dove. Over hu- 
manity in its doomed dwelling, tottering 
in weakness, trouble and sin, the white- 
winged guardian hovers. She claims as 
her brood the defenceless, the suffering; 
and true to her instinct of unselfish devo- 
tion, she will sacrifice herself for the ob- 
jects of her love and care. 

Mrs. Fry, in her prison labors ; Florence 
Nightingale, among the sick and dying sol- 
diers; Miss Dix, providing asylums for the 
insane ; these notably illustrate the b'eauty 
and heroism of woman's charity, and may 
serve to remind us of others who, in a 
smaller sphere, have contributed their all 
of labor and influence for the amelioration 
of distress. Many noble women during 
our late war, sacrificed ease, even comfort 
and health, to their ministry of love in 
3 



34 



Christian Woman?iood \ 



hospital wards, in army tents, or m the 
home-work. They wrought quietly, and 
history will treasure but a few names; but 
the savor of their good deeds has newly 
perfumed the name of woman in our gen- 
eration. One young lady, the daughter of 
wealth, gave up her whole time to work 
for and amoug the hospitals of her city. 
It was but a succession of little offices that 
busied her days, and often wore into the 
weary nights. The daily walk between 
the long lines of cots, with a smile and a 
word, a flower maybe, or a book, the pro- 
mised delicacy for a craving appetite, while 
she lingers here and there to catch requests 
for some homely comfort, or pauses longer 
to write a letter or take a message. The 
surgeons who witnessed her labors, con- 
fessed that her success lay beyond their 
skill. . We all remember the dying boy in 
one of our western hospitals, who, in reply 
to the inquiry, " Can I do any thing for 
you?" answered, "Only kiss me." He 
longed for the outward token of that love 
which he recognized as sacred, kindred to 
the mother-love which had never failed him. 



Spiritual Culture. 35 

Woman's sympathy is the vital principle 
of all our benevolence, as she sways the 
heart of man, refining to tenderness his 
ruder feelings, he emulates her virtues in 
rearing asylums for the afflicted, and re- 
treats for those past life's work or pleasure. 
To her own hands are entrusted the ad- 
ministration of our tenderest charities, to 
provide homes for the aged, the orphan, 
the friendless, the erring. Study the re- 
cords of such institutions, and you will 
find women are not only the nominal, but 
the real founders; the committees, the 
acting officers, all are women; and often 
the endowment is the gift of a woman's 
loving heart. Woman recognizes her fit- 
ness for such work by the enthusiasm these 
labors kindle in her own heart, and the 
success to which they attain under her 
care ; it is while thus engaged man sees in 
her his highest ideal of " the beautiful, the 
true, and the good." 

If such, then, is woman's God-given na- 
ture, selfishness seems a strange and vio- 
lent perversion of the character. When 
she, who was appointed to live so much for 



36 Christian Womanhood. 

others, lives for self, how base the degra- 
dation ! 

' ' "Whose wish to serve 
Is circumscribed within the bounds 
Of self — a narrow, miserable sphere. 
To trill of us and ours, of mine and me, 
Our horse and coach, our friends, our family, 
While the excluded circle sit in pain, 
And glance their cool contempt, or fierce disdain." 

Christ, our universal exemplar, is pecu- 
liarly the model of female excellence; and 
her noblest eulogy must be the words spo- 
ken of her Master, " He went about doing 
good." 

Woman is also destined to be the Con- 
servator of Conscience. Her position as 
mother, invested with an authority none 
questions over those who, in their time, are 
to make and wield laws ; as wife and sister 
who, in the shelter of home, can more 
readily adjust questions of right, removed 
from the shock of the world's jar and crime; 
and chiefly, in her womanly character, with 
her moral susceptibility, her almost intui- 
tive perception of right and wrong, her 
tenderness, which so clothes the just claims 



Spiritual Culture, 37 

of duty that they may win, as well as com- 
mand, man's attention : these considerations 
emphatically mark her place as moral guar- 
dian of the race. 

\ There are few men, perhaps, but that 
can look back to some moral crisis of their 
lives, when, perplexed with the sophistries 
of evil, harassed by the responsibilities of 
decision, wavering with the longings of 
desire, wishing for a human helper, they 
have turned to the true-hearted wife, the 
wise sister; or, backward in memory, to 
the counsels of a mother, who, by example 
and precept, taught inviolate allegiance to 
duty. Life reenacts Fenelon's parable of 
Telemachus ; and the boy, the youth, the 
man, is followed by the faithful mentor, 
which, taking human form, is "Woman, 
who, in her general character, or as en- 
deared by love, guides through temptation, 
and inspires hope in a future of honor and 
happiness. 

In one of the little villages among the 
Green Mountains, a boy had grown up, 
chafing at the quiet monotony of his daily 
life, and longing for the freedom of the 



38 Christian Womanhood. 

sea. His widowed mother at length gave 
a reluctant consent — her heart full of fore- 
boding. For a last look, a last embrace, 
she followed him down the garden slope, 
and there, as they paused, while tears fell 
fast, the mother asked from the boy a 
pledge that he would never drink. Soften- 
ed, trembling, the boy gave his solemn 
promise. Through long voyages, no plea 
of friendship, or necessary comfort, tempt- 
ed him ; no urgency of good-fellowship 
drew him into the carousals while in port ; 
his mother, her love, her tears, the promise 
registered within sight of his native moun- 
tains — these memories followed him — 
saved him. Once, in a foreign port, an 
American sailor came on board, drunken 
and friendless. Our hero took him in 
charge, cared for his comfort, then told the 
story of his mother's love, and the parting 
promise. Touched by the pathos and truth 
of this recital, the poor man caught at the 
hope of reform, and willingly pledged him- 
self to total abstinence. Years later, a gen- 
tleman called at the counting-house of a 
wealthy merchant in Xew York. That 



Spirihial Culture, 39 

day, the New York merchant, and the cap- 
tain of a Liverpool packet, dined together 
— the Green Mountain boy and the re- 
claimed inebriate. Long they talked over 
the past, the present, the hopes for the 
future, tracing the virtue, honor, and pros- 
perity of their lives to the pledging influ- 
ence of that faithful mother among the 
mountains. 

The resolution that decided a boy, al- 
ready embarking for his place on the wait- 
ing vessel, to go back to his home, was the 
memory of a sorrowing mother ; and thus 
George Washington was saved to become 
the ruler of our armies, the father of our 
nation, while he ever ascribed his useful- 
ness to the mighty influence of a mother's 
counsels and guardianship. The younger 
Adams, one of the most upright and pure 
of American statesmen, said : " What I am, 
and what I hope to be, I owe, under God, 
to my mother." Our late President, in con- 
fidential intercourse, said: " Billy, all I am, 
or can be, I owe to my angel-mother." 
Garibaldi traces his conviction of duty to 
his mother, whose image has followed him 



4_o Christian Wo??ianhood. 

as a guardian angel, amid storms of ocean, 
the lightning gleam of swords, and iron 
hail of battle. 

Such mothers do not stand alone ; they 
are known to us also; women who ha/e, 
single-handed, saved their families from 
moral ruin, often in the face of evil exam- 
ple, and the danger of wicked patronage 
and counsels. These are the world's re- 
formers ; their influence permeates society, 
vitalizing conscience, toning up the moral 
sense, and inspiring virtue through all 
classes. It precipitates and emboldens all 
conflicts with evil ; helps and hastens the 
victory. In conquering an age, a country, 
a city, a generation, a soul, to virtue, there 
is truer glory than all the battles from 
Thermopylae to Waterloo ; and the evil rife 
in all lands, and under all governments, 
that no human law can remedy, the influ- 
ence of woman upon our conscience, morals, 
and law, can obviate. 

"Woman is preeminently the Priestess of 
Religion. In the practice of the ancient 
Roman faith, the temple was confided to 
woman's care. She fed the altar-fire, whose 



Spirihial Culture. 41 

constant flame commanded her ceaseless 
vigilance. This ministry of religion but 
symbolizes the great truth of woman's mis- 
sion and influence. As she fed the sym- 
bolic fire of the altar, so she nourishes the 
flame of devotion in the heart of man, and 
in the temples of religion. Remitting her 
vigilance, the sacred fire would die from 
heart and temple. 

Woman's superiority to man is of the 
heart, and religion has its seat in the heart; 
hence, the eminence of her religious ca- 
pacity and power. She is more largely 
endowed with those principles specially 
brought into exercise in religious experi- 
ence, than man. She is more confiding ; 
it is her nature to believe, and faith is the 
substance of religion. She is more affec- 
tionate ; it is her nature to love, and love 
is the passion of religion. Thus her nature 
and organization define her position. In 
sacred Scripture, her priesthood is as clear- 
ly recognized as that of Aaron, or any 
modern ministry. The names of Miriam, 
Deborah, and Anna, the prophetess ; of 
Typhena and Typhosa, who labored in the 
3* 



42 C?i7-istian Womanhood, 

Lord; of Dorcas; of Priscilla, Paul's help- 
er; Mary, who bestowed much labor on 
the Apostles ; of Phoebe, the servant of the 
Church — are honorably mentioned. Last 
at the cross, and first at the sepulchre, in 
various ministry, woman attested superior 
devotion, and in every age has pledged 
man to faith and God. 

In her abounding confidence, the faith 
of the world is perpetuated. Hannah 
nourished the faith of a Samuel ; Lois and 
Eunice, a Timothy; the pious Norma, a 
Gregory ; Anthusia, a Chrysostom ; Mon- 
ica, an Augustine. When the Prince of 
Orange was perplexed and desponding, 
while plots thickened around him, intrigue 
and bribery were rife, misfortune spread 
gloom over the land, his noble mother 
soothed and cheered him in the pursuit of 
his great mission by her words of lofty faith 
and tenderness : " I trust my heart's lord 
and son will be supported by Divine grace 
to do nothing against God and his own 
soul's salvation. It is better to lose the 
temporal than the eternal." The eccentric 
Randolph said: "I have been a French 



Spiritual Culture. 43 

politician, and I should have been a French 
infidel, had not my mother often taken me, 
when a little child, into the closet, and, 
kneeling beside me with her hand on my 
head, taught me to say, * Our Father who 
art in heaven/ " So pious mothers foster 
more piety than creeds, books, and preach- 
ers. 

Nor is woman less prominent in measures 
for spreading the gospel. But for her in- 
fluence, how often would the family altar 
be abandoned, the prayer-meeting neglect- 
ed, the Church disbanded, Sunday schools 
given up. Encouraging the missionary 
spirit, she has not hesitated to offer herself, 
and bequeathed us some of the brightest 
names on our mission annals, as the Jud- 
sons, Newell, Comstock, and Vinton. Some 
of the most important and characteristic 
missions of Christianity she has instituted 
herself. Miss Rhenard has recently devel- 
oped the grand movement of Bible readers 
in London, and now in other cities of the 
kingdom. Miss Marsh has originated and 
is sustaining, with wonderful success, a 
mission to railroad laborers, as a class. 



44 



C?irislian Wo?na?i?iood . 



Mrs. Whilen, visiting neglected streets and 
homes', is leading hundreds to Christ. 
Madame Feller's Grande Ligae Mission 
has been the most successful mission to 
the Romanists of modern times, and has 
changed the spirit and policy of such mis- 
sions. Miss Webb is using her own for- 
tune and influence in sending female mis- 
sionaries to Africa, in collecting funds, and 
conducting correspondence — thus perform- 
ing mission work. 

It is not in different faculties or powers 
that difference of sex may be traced, but 
in a different development, combination, 
and proportion of these powers. A brain 
of finer texture, body more symmetrical, 
quicker perceptions, clearer intuitions, 
stronger faith, and deeper heart — these 
characterize woman, fit her for her mis- 
sion, and plainly point to her position as 
Love's earthly incarnation. Hence, al- 
though, in perfecting womanly character, 
the culture of body, mind, and soul are 
each complemental to the other, yet, in 
this three-fold spiritual development lies 
her strength and superiority. 



Spiritual Culture. 4.5 

Grant her all the attributes of beauty in 
the perfection of healthful vigor ; they are 
fleeting, they can not satisfy ; ideal art may 
please more. Give her a mind trained to 
acquisition, introspection, analysis and 
criticism, fine taste, clear judgment, pro- 
found knowledge; we can find man her 
superior in all this. We look for some 
thing above, that may prove our kindred 
with the Infinite, that may reach the im- 
mortal craving of our nature ; and we find 
it in a heart prone to love ; forgiveness, 
sweet offices of mercy ; the conscience that 
knows no weak commerce with error, that, 
faithful as the needle, points to Right as 
the pole-star of existence ; and the soul 
that goes up often into the audience-cham- 
ber of the King of kings, and breathes its 
native air of heaven while prisoned on 
earth. With this affluence of spiritual life, 
we recognize in Woman, God's best gift to 
man; without it — 

" Oh, what is Woman, what her smile, 
Her lip of love, her eye of light; 
What is she, if her lips revile 

The lowly Jesus ? Love may write 



46 Christian Womanhood '. 

His home upon her marble brow, 

And linger in her curls of jet, 
The light spring-flowers may scarcely bow 

Beneath her step; and yet — and yet, 
Without that meeker grace, she '11 be 

A lighter thing than vanity." 

Combine these forms of education, culti- 
vate the complete nature of woman, then it 
would be no idle dream to expect a gene- 
ration of women, where the body of devel- 
oped muscle and healthy nerve, calm in 
repose and powerful in activity, will fitly 
shrine the jewel of mind, so fashioned and 
polished by education as to gloriously re- 
flect the Maker's image; both mind and 
body subject to Christ's higher law, which, 
occupying the hands in mercy's work, free- 
ing the mind from selfish taint that it may 
rise to the noblest themes of contempla- 
tion, gives to woman her final distinguish- 
ing charm, the halo with which art invests 
its pictured saint. In this millenial dawn, 
woman will bring the race in her arms to 
the Saviour's feet. As by her the race fell; 
by her it may rise again. 

There are women who seem earnests of 



Spiritual Culture* 47 

this noble future of their sex, whose lives 
light up glorious possibilities for the world. 
Such a one, to our partial affection, seemed 
the subject of the following sketch, and 
the testimony of the many who knew her 
authorize our eulogy. The daily contem- 
plation of her life, her character, her vir- 
tues, suggested the reflections which have 
matured in this study of woman and her 
destiny. Although in early life her inher- 
ited frailty of constitution occasioned solici- 
tude, by her conscientious observance of 
the laws of health, she gained almost com- 
plete mastery over physical weakness, and 
endured, for a long term of years, a variety 
and extent of service, in wise alternations, 
that many robust women would have sunk 
under. Her mental development, nearly 
the result of self-education, was so symme- 
trical and thorough that she seemed capa- 
ble of attending to any subject or duty 
within the range of woman's life. Her 
domestic skill was so remarkable that, al- 
though called to so many public duties, 
accepting many personal responsibilities 
that friendship and religion made imp era- 



48 Christian Womanhood, 

tive to her lively sensibility, she looked 
" well to the ways of her household;" home 
order and comfort were never neglected. 
Her spiritual culture was so complete, that 
partial friendship often declared her fault- 
less, but for the extreme of disinterested 
devotion that taxed too heavily her life for 
others' welfare. Thus love saw in her " the 
perfect woman, nobly planned." Sir James 
Mackintosh, eulogizes his wife in such 
terms of loving appreciation, that they are 
transcribed to celebrate the praises of 
Christian woman, and as the fitting tribute 
of an adoring heart, to a wife who might 
have claimed the picture as her own : " I 
was guided in my choice only by the blind 
affections of my youth. I found an intelli- 
gent companion and a tender friend, a pru- 
dent monitress, the most faithful of wives, 
and a mother as tender as ever children 
had the misfortune to lose. I met a wo- 
man who, by tender management of my 
weaknesses, gradually corrected the most 
pertinacious of them. She became prudent 
from affection, and, although of the most 
generous nature, she was taught frugal- 



Spiritual Culture, 49 

ity by her love of me. During the most 
critical period of my life she relieved me. 
To her I owe whatever I am ; to her, what- 
ever I shall be. In her solicitude for my 
interest, she never for a moment forgot my 
feelings or character. Even in her occa- 
sional resentment, for which I but too often 
gave her cause (would to God I could recall 
those moments), she had no sullenness or 
acrimony. Her feelings were warm, nay, 
impetuous; but she was placable, tender, 

and constant Such was she whom I 

have lost." 

Experience alone can gauge such sorrow. 
The sunlight of the affections extinguished ; 
the heart denied the utterance of the depth 
and ineffable tenderness of its regards — 
robbed of the object of its earthly worship ; 
reparation for chance neglects forever im- 
possible ; haunting thought, that, by wiser 
care, life might have been prolonged; so- 
lace sought in overruling Providence, de- 
nied by consciousness that moral delin- 
quencies may have determined the painful 
discipline ; these considerations, ever re- • 
curring, deepen the anguish of the soul. 
4 



^o Christian Woma?ihood. 

It is oppressed by an indescribable sense 
of loneliness, weakness, and woe ! Unsuc- 
cored by Divine grace, it is sometimes driv- 
en to madness — sometimes to the grave! 
But there are no sorrows of earth that 
heaven can not cure. The weakness of 
the creature is succored by the strengh of 
the Creator. There is relief in the temper- 
ing of time; the diversion of care; the en- 
gagements of duty ; the solace of fond 
memories; the legacy of beautiful virtues, 
examples, and traditions ; remembrance, 
perhaps, of that life before snatched from 
the grave, in answer to prayer, and given 
back with lengthened lease; in memorial 
of wisdom and goodness, stamped upon 
family order ; and especially in the hope, 
quickened to assurance, of eternal reunion 
in heaven. 

A treasure but removed — 
A bright bird parted for a clearer day, 
Yours still in heaven. 



VI. 

pUR Friends in Heaven. 

"Will gaze 

Upon her effigy 

"With reverential love, 

Till they shall grow familiar with its lines 

And know her when they see her face in heaven. 

j|F Christian womanhood is left to 
perish, nothing of earth is im- 
mortal. Then, all "beings and 
things we know are but the ef- 
florescence of creative energy, aimless dis- 
play of blind power, the sport of capricious 
chance, to fade in periodic decay, as earth, 
blooming in variegated beauty, before re- 
lentless approach of winter. If any thing 
of earth is immortal, it must be mind, ani- 
mated with spiritual intuitions ; character, 
resplendent with heavenly virtues ; will, in 
harmony with Divine will ; and affections 
allied with the true, the beautiful, and the 




52 Christian Woma?i?iood. 

good ; rising to happy immortality, and 
the reunion of saints in heaven. 

Immortality promises this reunion; only 
obscure apprehension of the future life 
casts doubt upon it. As that life is demon- 
strated, the hope of reunion is confirmed. 
As through all stages of life and changes 
of condition here, correspondence of love 
and friendship continues, so it may in later 
periods of being. In nourishing the intui- 
tion of immortality, nature, by beautiful 
symbolic teaching, kindles the aspiration 
and gilds the promise. 

Rainbow and cloud, leaving us so soon 
to sigh over their faded loveliness, may re- 
appear in diviner form, spanning a fairer 
clime, to fade no more. The stars, in their 
unapproachable glory, challenging and con- 
founding our finite capacity, may point to a 
more exalted sphere, and beckon towards a 
more glorious destiny. Aspirations which 
wander about in this world like exiled 
angels, may regain their native bowers, 
and the beatitude of complete and everlast- 
ing fruition. The loved ones we cherish 
so fondly and so purely here, now leaving 



Our Friends in ITeaven. 53 

us alone in the pilgrimage and sorrow of 
life, may be restored to our presence, and 
abide with us forever. In the future life, 
could we know less than in this ? A Welsh 
divine, interrupted in his study by the 
anxious enquiry of his companion : " John 
Evans, shall we know each other in 
heaven?" replied, somewhat curtly, but 
forcibly : "Of course we shall ! Do you 
think we shall be greater fools in heaven 
than wd are here ?" 

Moreover, does not identity imply recog- 
nition f Would not any metamorphose 
that prevents recognition also destroy iden- 
tity ? In loss of identity, and, consequent- 
ly, of recognition, would heavenly beings, 
in any proper sense, be the same that were 
born and lived in this world ! If there 
will be no recognition, will there be resur- 
rection, or future life ? As through change 
of age, dress, manners, language, clime, 
condition, one is still identified by relations 
and comparisons with the past ; so through 
all changes and scenes of future life, and 
through remotest periods of eternity, one 
will still be identified with earth, and be 



54 



C?i7*isUa?i Womanhood. 



recognized by those associated in its his- 
tory. 

Besides, universal aspiration for it, prophe- 
sies reunion. Intuitive belief in God, or im- 
mortality, however encumbered by super- 
stition and error, remains an unanswerable 
argument for the great objective fact to 
which it refers. 

" As sunshine broken in a rill, 
Though turned astray, is sunshine still." 

No intuitive conviction misleads the world, 
any more than instinct the bee, the beaver, 
or the bird. Our hope of reunion in the 
future world is such an apprehension. It 
is not an occasional or temporary feeling, 
obtaining only in some lands, in some ages, 
and under some forms of civilization ; but 
it is a normal and universal desire. 

It is attested in the widow immolating 
herself on the funeral pyre of her husband; 
in the sacrifice of courtiers and servants 
upon the grave of the barbarian king ; in 
similar funeral rites of aborigines of Central 
and Xorth America ; in inscriptions on cost- 
ly monuments and humble tablets in all the 



Our Friends in Heaven. 



55 



burial places of Christian lands and ages ; 
and in the aspirations and injunctions 
whispered in ten thousand dying chambers. 
And this aspiration becoming more ardent 
through the teaching of Christianity, must 
be of the same authority. Rising in con- 
fidence and promise with the Christian life, 
it is authenticated by the same Spirit that 
attests the Christian revelation. 

Still further, expressions of this hope, by 
trusted teachers of the world, particularly 
confirm it. Homer, illustrating the opinion 
and hope of the Greek civilization, repre- 
sents his hero as visiting the spirit-land, 
and recognizing and communing with an- 
cestors, founders, and benefactors of the 
state, patrons of justice and virtue. 

Virgil, in like manner, reflecting tradi- 
tionary beliefs of the Roman age, conducts 
JEneas through the shadowy land, tenderly 
meeting his venerable father, and recogniz- 
ing the lost companions of his pursuit of 
empire in the West, and seeking acquaint- 
ance with illustrious ancestors. 

Socrates, receiving the poisoned chalice, 
consoles himself and his friends with the 



56 C?iristia7i TTomanhood. 

hope of reunion beyond the vale of death, 
and consorting with martyrs of truth, de- 
fenders of justice — the wise and good. 

Cicero solaces himself, upon the death of 
his son, with the same hope of soon follow- 
ing to know personally those he has so 
long admired in history, as well as to be 
re-united with his lost son and kindred. 

But these expressions are weak, com- 
pared with assurances animating the con- 
fessors of the church, through all lands and 
ages. Paul's triumph has been repeated a 
thousand times by martyrs and missionaries 
of the cross. And by this hope; ten thous- 
and times the dying chamber has been 
radiant with glory as an outer court of 
heaven ! 

The Old Testament, also, strongly con- 
firms this hope. Without it, the patriarch's 
tender care for his dead was, after all, a 
weak superstition. 

Without it, the yearning of Hebrew 
saints to be "gathered to their people," 
"buried with their fathers," was but an 
amiable delusion ! 

"Without it, Isaiah's graphic description 



Oar Friends in Heaven. 



57 



of a royal descent into hell; the mutual 
recognition of oppressor and oppressed, 
and rivals in oppression, is a hideous fable. 

Without it, the translation of Enoch and 
Elijah have no significance nor promise. 

"Without it, David practices self-delusion, 
when, consoling himself upon the death of 
his child, he exclaims : " I shall go to it, 
but it will not return to me." 

Without it, attributing all the worthy 
deeds and characters of the Hebrews to 
faith, is imposture. Limited to bounds of 
the grave, faith is destroyed. Its confidence 
survives only in the unobstructed sphere 
and promise of the future. 

Finally, this promise is implied and 
confirmed in every page, and ordinance of 
the New Testament. If Christ came not 
to destroy beneficent law and institutions ; 
much less the whole worth and value of 
humanity, for whose benefit law and insti- 
tutions were made ! He came to perfect, 
beautify, and glorify the true and good in 
man. To the bereaved widow he restored 
an only son; to weeping sisters an only 

brother; to the centurion an only daughter 
4* 



58 Christian Woman?iood \ 

— all prophesying restoration of spiritual 
kindred, and renewed fellowship in heaven. 

Besides gathering all the redeemed into 
himself, unites them to each other. They 
will share the experience and fellowship 
of the re-united family. Does not the pro- 
mise of " many mansions " imply familiar 
community ? 

The recognition, at the final judgment, 
of those served or neglected in this world, 
implies all the blessed promise of this 
doctrine. 

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus 
recognizing each other, and Abraham, 
confirms it beyond dispute. 

The meeting of Moses, Elias and John, 
talking with Jesus in the transfiguration, 
establishes it with a glorious fullness. 

The unity of the church with orders of 
the spiritual world, declared in Hebrews, 
amplifies and glorifies the promise : 

"Ye are come unto mount Zion, and 
unto the city of the living God, the hea- 
venly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable 
company of angels, to the general assembly 
and church of the first-born, which are 



Our Friends in ITeaven. 



59 



written in heaven, and to God the Judge 
of all, and to the spirits of just men made 
perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the 
new covenant." 

With these we are made kindred, fellow 
heirs, glorified companions. 

Immortality is not a pleasing fantasy-. 
At the grave the soul does not lose 
identity in other forms of being. The uni- 
versal longing of humanity is not an ignis 
fatuus light. The prophets of the world 
are not impostors. The Old Testament 
arches the future with the bow of promise. 
Life and immortality are brought to light 
in the Gospel. United with Christ here, 
we shall be with him in glory. Though 
parted on earth, we shall meet again in 
heaven. Our friends in Christ are not lost, 
but gone before. 

If yon bright stars, which gem the night, 

Be each a blissful dwelling sphere, 
Where kindred spirits reunite 

Whom death hath torn asunder here, 
How sweet it were at once to die, 

To leave this blighted orb afar; 
Mixt soul and soul to cleave the sky, 

And soar away from star to star. 



60 Christian Woma?ihood. 

But oh! how dark, how drear, and lone 

Would seem the brightest world of bliss, 
If, wandering through each radiant one, 

We failed to find the loved of this! 
If there no more the ties shall twine, 

"Which death's cold hand alone could sevei 
Ah, then those stars in mockery shine, 

More hateful as they shine for everl 

It can not be — each hope, each fear, 

That lights the eye or clouds the brow, 
Proclaims there is a happier sphere, 

Than this bleak world that holds us now, 
There is a voice which sorrow hears, 

When heaviest weighs life's galling chain; 
'Tis heaven that whispers — "Dry your tears, 

The pure in heart shall meet again." 



Zife of Mrs. M. K. JZverls. 



LIFE OF MRS. M. K. EVERTS. 




Parentage and Childhood, 

*' A Eose, with all its sweetest leaves yet unfolded." 

|T is now nearly three-quarters of 
a century since John Burtis, born 
and bred a Quaker, left his fa- 
ther's house among the richer 
farming lands of New Jersey, and came to 
Philadelphia, wishing to compete with men 
in more active business, and ambitious, in 
his quiet, determined way, of greater ad- 
vantages of society and culture. The Qua- 
ker's son, with all the engrafted character- 
istics of the sect, and through the homely 



64 Christian Womanhood. 

nurture of his frugal life, yet felt a faint 
stirring in his blood of the far-off Italian 
extraction, which betrayed itself in some 
instinctive refinements of manner and taste 
that strongly individualized the man. 

A character so nicely compounded of the 
sterner virtues and finer sensibilities would 
readily command circumstances ; and, after 
a short, but profitable, business venture, he 
accepted a position in the United States 
Bank, which he held. for a quarter of a cen- 
tury, until its suspension ; meanwhile 
making prudent investments, which even- 
tuated in his becoming proprietor of a large 
manufacturing establishment. His inherit- 
ed endurance, moderate life, equable tem- 
per, and systematic adjustment of time, 
these each bore their part of the burden, 
and for a long series of years these respon- 
sibilities were borne with ease and dignity. 

He was past his young manhood before 
he married. He then became acquainted 
with a daughter of Joseph Keen, a promi- 
nent man in the community, and well 
known among Philadelphia Baptists for 
elevated Christian character. Some years 



M. JT. Uverts. 65 

his junior, this young girl, with the fervid 
religious temperament of her Welsh ances- 
try, and the lighter graces of a buoyant 
temper and sunny face, a loving heart and 
open hand, molded into beautiful woman- 
hood by the culture of a careful, happy 
home — this creature of fire and dew so 
rarely blent, John Burtis won as his wife, 
and bore to a new home. 

The daughter often held before us the 
charming sketch, which memory had pre- 
served* with loving fidelity, of the mother 
in her premature decline, with all the 
charms of her youth spiritualized to fragil- 
ity, her almost invariable dress of spotless 
white, the invalid chair always a centre for 
the household group, her buoyant sunshine 
animating to endeavor, cheering in defeat, 
welding with sweet influences the ties that 
bound heart to heart. She lived to middle 
life, long enough to impress her influence 
upon the elder children, and leave to them 
all a beautiful, tender memory; then only 
— in the clearer vision that approaching 
death brings, the reflected radiance of the 
dark cloud's silver lining — daring to call 
5 



66 Christian Womanhood. 

herself a child of God. Whom she had 
longed for, she saw, waiting to receive her 
as a Father. Without loud songs of tri- 
umph, but in perfect peace and assurance 
of hope, she passed over the river. 

The children of such parents inherited 
a " diversity of gifts," and in the second 
child and only daughter, these were devel- 
oped in a combination at once rare and 
excellent. Margaret Keen Burtis was born 
in the August of 1817. Of her earliest 
years we have no record. She always spoke 
with feeling of a happy childhood. A fa- 
ther ruling his family through loving fear, 
whom she reverenced from her earliest 
memory ; a mother, wise and tender ; the 
freedom of a large garden-space, where the 
children's sports were often resolved into 
their father's pastime of caring for the fruit 
and flowers ; the commodious, well-ordered 
house ; and the constant flow of fun and 
frolic, unallied to boisterousness, which 
eminently characterized the children's in- 
tercourse ; these were the memories to 
which we have often listened. 

Margaret was never a robust child ; but 



M. K. Uverts. 67 

proper care and a lively disposition equally 
removed her from the charge of ill-health. 
Her studies were pursued with an ardor 
which the parents' forethought held in 
check. She was rarely gifted in musical 
taste and ability. An ear so sensitive to 
melody that the ready tears often spoke 
her painful rapture, and voice of that sym- 
pathetic sweetness that her song drew one 
irresistibly in the current of her expressed 
feeling ; these gifts, coupled with her en- 
thusiasm, prophesied the excellence which 
became afterwards so marked as to charac- 
terize her as " the young lady who played 
and sung so well." It was with the idea 
of cultivating and refining her vivacious 
disposition, that the non-professing parents 
allowed, within certain limits, the social 
dance. This, to Margaret's susceptible 
temperament, was " dangerously fascina- 
ting," as she often spoke of it, and she fol- 
lowed it with the keenest enjoyment until 
her conversion, when its incongruity with 
Christian profession decided her in willing 
renunciation. 




n. 

ChF^ISTIAN PROFESSION. 

"If any painter drew her, 
He would paint her unaware 
"With a halo round her hair. " 

jHE decided religious position of 
Margaret's grandfather, Deacon 
I Keen, with the bias of her mo- 
ther's early education, combined 
to rule family order ; and under these in- 
fluences they were brought up to an ob- 
servance of all the outward forms of religion. 
The family were regular attendants of the 
First Baptist Church, then under the pas- 
toral care of the senior Dr. Brantley, and 
the children were identified with the Sun- 
day school. Here, under the teaching of 
Miss Hetty Bruce, a faithful Christian 
woman, whose name we love to chronicle, 
Margaret received her first decided impres- 



M. K. averts. 69 

sions of religious truth — -another of the 
eloquent encouragements that the Sunday 
school teacher may claim. It was only the 
little seed, from week to week watered hy 
prayer; but, as in our Lord's parable, the 
little seed matured to a mighty tree, that 
gave sustenance and shelter to many forms 
of life. Doubtless this faithful woman, long 
gone to her reward, is permitted to trace 
the influence of her early teaching upon 
that growth of Christian character which 
became a mighty influence in Christ's king- 
dom on earth. 

But it was while attending a four-days' 
meeting in a Presbyterian church near her 
father's house, that her impressions deep- 
ened into a profound conviction of personal 
guilt, and rose in the penitent's prayer : 

11 God! God! 
With a child's voice I cry, 
Weak, sad, confidingly." 

There she finally found peace in believing, 
and happiness in consecrating herself to a 
Christian life. 
Among her cherished papers was found 



7 o 



Christian Womanhood. 



a note, evidently written about the time of 
her conversion, interesting as the only evi- 
dence we have of her feeling, or of encour- 
agement to the young inquirer. The name 
it bears, Mary Hallman, brings up to mem- 
ory the quaint face and figure of one who, 
unordained of men, yet filled the place of 
those who, in the Christian Church, bore 
the title of deaconess. A woman both wise 
and tender, of remarkable personal influ- 
ence, and singular religious consecration, 
who, while she wrought with her hands for 
daily bread, built up the Church by her 
varied labors, and has left a name fragrant 
with all good deeds. Her solicitude for 
Margaret's welfare but epitomizes her spirit 
and work. 

11 The services of Friday, my dear Margaret, 
were peculiarly calculated to bring every con- 
science to a stand ; and I do trust have brought 
my dear young friend seriously to consider what 
course she will pursue. Allow me, then, to ask 
what has been your determination. Have you 
resolved still to withhold your heart from that 
compassionate Saviour, who loved you, and gave 
himself for you ; or, overcome by his long for- 
bearance and tender mercy, will you not cast 
yourself at his feet, and resolve, in his strength, 



M. &. averts. 71 

that from this moment you will devote yourself 
to his service. You feel that there is danger of 
grieving away the Holy Spirit, but you can never 
know the extent of that danger till your eyes 
are opened, and you realize, in some measure, 
the worth of the immortal soul. You fear your 
1 prayers will not be heard, because you are so 
sinful in the eyes of a holy Grod.' It was sinners, 
my dear Margaret, Jesus Christ came to save ; 
were the prayers of the righteous only heard, none 
could ever ascend to his throne, for ' there is 
none righteous, no, not one.' It is in the char- 
acter of guilty and helpless sinners we are to 
come to the dear Saviour — he has assured us 
that : ' Though our sins be as scarlet, they shall 
be white as snow ; though they be red like crim- 
son, they shall be as wool.' We are to come 
just as we are, for he only can cleanse us from 
our guilt, and produce the change in us that we 
know and feel to be necessary if we would stand 
acquitted at the judgment bar. If you feel the 
slightest desire, my dear M., to converse on this 
subject, let me see you an hour before the ap- 
pointed time on Saturday. If you prefer writing, 
I shall be truly gratified to receive and answer 
your communications. I trust I need hardly as- 
sure you that nothing could give me greater 
pleasure than to be of service to you in this way. 
My interest in you has increased ten-fold, since I 
have hoped that this all-important subject is not 
slighted by you as it was formerly. 

" Yours affectionately, 

"M. H." 



j 2 Christian Womanhood. 

In the laxer practice of our latter-day 
religion, we might not look for great or 
decided change in one of such native love- 
liness. Yet this young girl, of whose grace- 
ful deportment, sunny temper, and loving 
heart all her early friends speak ; to whose 
filial virtues her parents bore testimony as 
a child who had never wounded them by 
thoughtlessness, opposed them in will, nor 
uttered a word of disrespect ; she, of whose 
faults none spoke, all knew her to love — 
in avowing herself a Christian, took a new 
position, and the whole character became 
imbued with a strange and subtle charm. 

She seemed to take to herself, with an 
intense personal significance, the apostle's 
assertion, that " we are not our own, we 
are bought with a price." Her natural 
disinterestedness matured into self-abnega- 
tion ; from the first, consecration was the 
key-note that explained the harmony of 
her Christian character. There was no 
grudging reserve of powers or gifts. After 
consulting with her parents and Christian 
friends, she presented herself to the First 
Church as a candidate for admission, and 



M. JS~. Uverts. 



73 



was baptized into their membership by Dr. 
Brantley, in the month of November, 1831, 
going down into the Delaware river, where 
they had opened a place in the ice to allow 
the ordinance. 



III. 

Budding Christian Character. 

"She hath borne herself beyond the promise of her 
ge. 1 ' 

|HE had just entered her four- 
teenth year at the time of her 
conversion, and from this year 
1 we have some record of her life 
in her own hand. After her death, among 
many reminiscences of her early life, were 
found three little books, written out with 
her characteristic neatness and legibility, 
only defaced by Time's coloring; from 1832 
till 1837 bearing irregular intermediate 
dates, as circumstances allowed time, or 
5* 




74 



Christian Woma?i?iood. 



some important occasion impelled utter- 
ance. 

We would not, if we could, lay open be- 
fore the merely curious eye these sacred 
self-disclosures, but from them we may 
glean for those who loved her, much of the 
lesson of her life. She gives as a reason 
for her journal, the need she feels of vigi- 
lance and frequent self-examination. We 
may imagine also the religious isolation 
this young girl must have sometimes felt, 
with none in her father's house who could 
sympathize with her in her peculiar trials, 
or give the human encouragement she 
craved, until self-communion seemed relief 
and comfort, and the pages of her diary as 
the face of a trusted friend. 

In one of her earliest entries, she notices 
the prevalence of slanderous gossip among 
both young and old, and she marks this as 
one of the outposts of her conflict — she 
" will avoid unkind mention of any one." 
The girl's simple resolve, watched and 
strengthened, became one of the woman's 
noblest characteristics. " She openeth her 
mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is 



M. X. Uverls. 75 

the law of kindness," was often spoken of 
her. This resolution not only originated a 
care over herself, but made her a social 
power against slander, by the marked 
silence and irrepressible flush of feeling 
that betrayed her sensitiveness, or the some- 
times softly-spoken word of deprecation. 

"We find an allusion in her diary to Dr. 
Judson's " Appeal to the Christian Females 
of America," in behalf of the Burman Mis- 
sions, which produced a profound impres- 
sion upon her mind. Keenly susceptible 
to impressions of beauty and grace, pos- 
sessed of nicely-discriminating taste, the 
matter of dress and personal adornment 
had a charm for her youth, and her parents 
approved of rich ornaments and handsome 
fabrics. But Margaret's conscience, once 
aroused on the subject of Christian consis- 
tency in dress and expenditure, decided her 
in principle and action. She laid aside all 
jewelry, and reduced her dress to almost 
Quakerish simplicity, while the money 
thus saved she enjoyed as her benevolent 
fund. That this was no mere outburst of 
girlish enthusiasm was proved through the 



76 Christian Womanhood. 

many years of her after life. Her con- 
scientiousness on this subject many deemed 
a peculiarity, which, indeed, it seemed; 
singling her from the many who, in our 
day, belie Christian humility, dwarf noble 
character, and threaten family ruin, by ex- 
travagant outlay and undue attention to 
dress. Although rarely noticing such out- 
lay in others, her own sensitiveness in this 
respect forced her a number of times to 
refuse gifts of ornamental dress, which she 
alone thought unsuitable for her- place 
and profession. She considered time and 
money as among the entrusted talents, and 
that they should yield their utmost advan- 
tage, before the Lord's coming to demand 
his own, with usury. 

We find among her records, one mighty 
evidence of the change wrought in her, in 
the intimate connection her mind makes 
between heaven and earth — the duties and 
pleasures of her daily life, and the joys of 
eternity that are promised. The one de- 
rives its truest relish but as it foretastes 
the other, and borrows a keen zest from 
the hope it assures of something nobler. 



M. K. Uverls. 77 

An interesting lesson in Astronomy fills 
her mind with thoughts of the " wonderful 
and admirable attributes of Jehovah." As 
her class pursue their text-book on the 
Evidences of Christianity, she is lost in 
amazement at the love of Him who left his 
glory to become the Saviour of a world, 
and she says the plan of salvation opens 
before her in new beauty and significance. 
In attending a concert, which she mentions 
with delight, the music reminds her of the 
more glorious harmonies she hopes to join 
above. She spends a social evening at her 
uncle's, and speaks of the pleasure it 
affords her to mingle with Christians — 
fellow-travelers to a better country. This 
vital godliness establishes in her the basis 
of a cheerful Christian character. One can 
not go mourning all their days, when they 
feel constantly the guiding hand and the 
absolute presence of a mighty friend and 
counselor. 

Her records during the first year widen 
out in resolves for action. "We here copy 
three resolutions : 



y8 C?iristia7i Woma?i?iood. 

1st. I will attend all meetings for prayer, 
when circumstances will permit. 

2d. I will commune with Christians, and we 
will exhort one another. 

3rd. I will converse with impenitent sinners, 
who are under my influence, and urge them to 
flee from the wrath to come. 

"We see from after allusions, that this 
compact with herself is extended into her 
school-life among her more intimate friends, 
and they mutually promise to keep one day 
in the week, in the intervals allowed for 
recreation, sacred to Christian intercourse ; 
on another day of the week, each would 
endeavor, in some way, to approach and 
influence the unconverted among their as- 
sociates. After some time, we find this 
merged into a daily study of the New Tes- 
tament, during the intermission, with all 
who could be induced to join the exercise. 
This is maintained for many months with 
great regularity. 

She mentions with pleasure — probably 
her first connection with a benevolent 
scheme — attending the weekly meetings 
of a Dorcas society, to provide clothes 
for infant-school scholars. She calls her- 



M. K. averts. 79 

self privileged to "be able to share in such 
a work, and speaks of each meeting with 
unflagging interest. In her union with this 
little society, so early in her career, was 
engrafted upon her character the benevo- 
lence which bore such rich fruit in her 
maturity. 

An early friend contributes the following 
reminiscence of her at this time : " Almost 
all my recollections of her are coupled with 
religion ; for she seemed, from the first of 
her profession, to make that the guiding- 
star of her course through life. I think 
she had been a member of the Church 
rather more than a year when our acquaint- 
ance commenced, and she seemed then to 
unite the zeal of a recent convert with the 
firm confidence of an experienced Chris- 
tian. She was foremost in every good 
work in which she engaged, winning the 
confidence and love of all those associated 
with her. In social life, she was the center 
of attraction, giving out an influence for 
refinement and goodness which none could 
altogether resist ! " 

Here we note the entry of a Sabbath, 



80 Christian Womanhood. 

which throws much light upon the young 
Christian's life, in its union of labor for 
others with the careful performance of 
secret self-culture. It seems as if thus 
early she solved the problem of the nice 
adjustment of the Sabbath to doing and 
getting good ; in the alternation, also, 
effectually banishing the possibility of 
weariness: "Rose this morning at 6.30. 
Wrote part of a sermon before breakfast. 
Attended Sunday school. Went to church, 
and heard a very solemn dissertation on 
Rev. ii. 14 : ' But I have a few things 
against thee. } In the afternoon, attended 
church, and heard our beloved pastor ex- 
pound first chapter of Isaiah. Returned 
home, and taught, in the evening, the 
Scriptures to three of the family; after- 
ward, studied the Scriptures, and wrote, 
from memory, the sermon of the morning. 
' Order my footsteps by thy word !' " 

We find another charming picture of the 
young girl of fifteen in the pages of her 
journaL There are three of them, whose 
friendship is cemented by Christian sym- 
pathy. She says : " We consulted as to 



M. JT. Uverls. 8i 

the best methods of ruling our lives ;" and 
they agree upon a weekly meeting for 
social prayer, and conference upon the best 
methods of growth in grace and conquest 
of the world, choosing a subject for special 
prayer and contemplation during the inter- 
vals of meeting. She mentions that they 
select, as a subject for two weeks thought- 
ful prayer, Self-renunciation. Smile — per- 
haps you may, as you conceive of these 
children's apprehension, in their sheltered 
lives, of the sublime truth that sages and 
philosophers have wrought out in lives of 
painful weariness. But the child's world 
had its own pomps and vanities ; through 
the quickening of a new life, they saw the 
increasing difficulty of " in honor preferring 
one another." They had entered upon the 
same conflict of which the veteran Paul 
speaks in solemn emphasis, after having 
gained the victory : " I am crucified to the 
world, and the world to me." • 

As another evidence of the pervasiveness 

of her religious feeling, we may notice the 

record of a night spent with a friend, when 

sleep was long deferred, as they talked of 

6 



St Christian Wotnanhood. 

their faults and mourned their unfaith- 
fulness. But while she is thus exercised 
in careful self-culture, and stretching out 
her hands to do good abroad, the ties of 
natural affection tighten around her heart, 
in the anxiety she feels for her family. 
Her journal attests her prayer and solicitude 
for the conversion of her parents, her bro- 
thers — each member of the family > whom 
she severally names with the tenderest af* 
fectiom She frequently breaks out into 
prayer that her conduct may not be derog* 
atory to the cause she has espoused, but 
that, as a reflection of humble Christian 
life, her example may be blest to those she 
loves. Unlike mere outbursts of youthful 
feeling, this ardor is a constant flame. She 
continually reverts to it as the great wish 
of her heart. Other friends and relations 
are frequently alluded to ; and she debates 
with herself how she may best approach 
them, and recommend her cause. Then, 
after weeks of interval, we find the allusion 
to " the friend mentioned before " — " an- 
other conversation," and " renewed pray- 
er." She covenants with an absent friend 



M. K. Uverls. 83 

to retire at a certain hour every day, to 
pray for the conversion of their own rela- 
tions. 

We have, as an interesting testimony to 
this part of her life, the recollections of her 
valued friend and instructor, Dr. R. W. 
Cushman : 

" Your favor of the 15th came duly to hand. 
It told ine of such a visitation in your family- 
circle as I was poorly prepared to hear of. Mrs. 
Everts, for months past, has been very often in 
my mind, connected, not only with memories, but 
with anticipation. It is nearly a quarter of a 
century, indeed, since I last saw her ; but all the 
more fondly have I cherished the anticipation of 
seeing her in the coming spring. Alas ! how 
little did I think of her having finished her life's 
work before I should see her again ! 

* * * n The records of a life so beautiful 
and beneficent certainly should not be lost to the 
world. 

" Miss Margaret Keen Burtis entered the 
1 Collegiate Institution for Young Ladies ' in 
Philadelphia, on the fifth of September, 1834, 
as a daily pupil. It was a matter of much un- 
certainty with her family, whether she would be 
able to attend regularly, at so great a distance 
from home. She appeared to be constitutionally 
too frail to undertake a walk of a mile and a half, 
twice daily, amid all kinds of weather. It was 
hoped, however, that the regularity of her ex- 



8 4 



Christian Womanhood. 



posure to the air, and the long walk, even though 
at first severe, might improve her health, and 
strengthen her constitution. . That hope was, in 
a great measure, realized. Neither weather nor 
sickness interfered much with her attendance. 
Indeed, I find but one record of absence from 
recitation during her first term. Her success 
in her studies was equal to her regularity in her 
attendance. 

" I happen to have the minutes of her account 
of her Christian experience before the Church, 
which I made when she came before it as a can- 
didate for baptism. She stated that her first 
religious impressions were received from the 
teachings of the Sabbath school. She was 
1 more powerfully exercised,' however, at a four 
days' meeting at Rev. Mr. Patterson's Church 
(Presbyterian), and it was there she found relief. 

" She had been, from her earliest years, a pat- 
tern of filial affection and dutifulness ; and her 
outward life seemed to have nothing in it ' to be 
repented of.' Sweet in temper, ingenuous, 
frank and winning in manners, and social without 
forwardness, she very early drew the attention 
and love, not only of the connections of the fam- 
ily, but of strangers, who marked her for no 
ordinary womanhood. 

" No sooner did she make a profession of her 
faith in Christ than she began her work for him. 
"Well do I remember, -even at this distant day, 
her young face glowing with happiness, as she 
sat in the midst of a circle of her fellow-pupils, 
whom she was accustomed to gather about her 



M. j£. Uverls. 85 

in a comparatively quiet recess in the Lecture 
Eoom, during the twenty minutes intermission 
between the opening and close of the daily ses- 
sion. I remember how they sat, each with her 
Testament or Bible in her hand, spell-bound, 
eagerly "bending forward and listening to what 
she was telling them of the story of the cross. 
I remember with what interest I watched the 
daily scene, as I sat at my desk at a little dis- 
tance, enjoying my own brief respite. And I 
remember, when I missed her from her place, 
and learned that she was ill, how the tears came 
to my eyes, as the thought came up that that 
smiling, happy face might not return — that 
sweet voice be heard no more in that youthful 
group — that that 'beauty of holiness,' while 
yet seeming in blossom, had, perhaps, already 
ripened for heaven. 

"In deep sympathy with the sorrow that 
shadows your home and that of your bereaved 
father, I am, dear brother, 

" Yours in Gospel bonds, 
" Village Side, " E. W. Cushman." 

" Oct. 29, 1866." 



IV. 

Mothers Death. 

' Beneath the cares of earth she does not bow, 
Though she hath ofttimes drained its bitter cup, 
But ever wanders on with heaven ward brow, 
And eyes whose lovely lids are lifted up. " 

1ROM the ordinary language of 
her journal, and the general ten- 
or of her life, we might readily 
infer a sweet docility of disposi- 
tion ; but it is made noticeably prominent 
by a little history we glean from the pages 
of her journal. In one record she speaks 
of a destitute part of the city that should 
be occupied by a Sunday school, and ex- 
claims, with ardor, that she would enjoy 
this work. After several days, she alludes 
to it again as growing upon her heart, and 
wonders if her parents would allow her to 
engage in such a school. By still another 




M, j£. averts. 87 

mention, we see that the subject engrosses 
her mind, and she now determines to seek 
her parents' consent, and prays that they 
may approve her plan. The next record 
she makes is in disappointment. They 
" think proper to deny my request," as her 
health is considered too delicate to venture 
in such an arduous undertaking. While 
she admits their superior judgment, she 
prays for an entirely submissive spirit, and 
then : " 0, Lord, send other laborers into 
thy harvest." Weeks after, she makes 
thankful mention of the fact that a school 
has been organized there ; with a noble 
unselfishness, she exclaims : " Bless the 
Lord, my soul !" 

She is but sixteen, when we find, head- 
ing a page in her diary, this inscription : 
" A new era in my life :" 

" The Lord has smitten me, yet will I praise 
him. He has laid his afflicting hand upon me, 
yet I will glorify his name for seen and unseen 
mercies. The mother who tenderly watched 
over my helpless infancy has fled. She who 
counseled me and taught me lessons of wisdom 
has gone forever. No more shall I hear the 
music of her sweet voice, or listen with delight 



88 Christian Womanhood. 

to her instructive conversation. I have lost a 
darling mother, with no sister left me. Oh ! 
the bitterness of a bereaved heart. I feel as if 
I never more can enjoy many things in which we 
participated, because, to me, the dearest one will 
be gone. . . . Never was a mother more tender and 
indulgent, when her excellent judgment said it 
was proper ; but strict where one's benefit re- 
quired it. Altogether, she is thought to have 
been awon<ftrful woman — always cheerful, even 
when pain harassed her. She was admirably 
calculated to make all around her happy. I feel 
a vacancy, which time alone can fill. I trust I 
am resigned to the will of my heavenly Father, 
and feel assured that all is right, and that the 
wisdom of my heavenly Director saw it was 
necessary ; but oh, the ties of nature are hard 
to sever, and leave wounds which remain long 
unhealed. I am left with the charge of the 
house, and two dear little brothers who will look 
much to me for direction. I look to God to 
enable me to perform my various duties, and 
that good may ensue. I desire to be a dutiful 
daughter, and show, by my walk and conversa 
tion, that there is something in religion which is 
desirable. I thank my Father for my many 
mercies — they are innumerable ; and I trust if 
I have in the least been guilty of repining, be- 
cause of his dispensation, that he will pardon my 
sin. Bless Zion ; convert the world : and may 
the millenial day soon dawn on our earth, to the 
glory of the Triune God. Amen." 



M. X- Hverls. 89 

On her mother's death Margaret, though 
pursuing her studies with the relish of a 
thoroughly awakened mind, acquiesced wil- 
lingly in her father's decision that it was 
her duty to fill the vacant place in the house- 
hold. Her mother, though for so long a 
time an invalid, yet possessed such tact, that 
her influence was the ruling power in domes- 
tic order, and the machinery of home-life 
moved as noiselessly, and with the same reg- 
ularity as in other families, where every 
thing seems to hinge on the actual presence 
of a head. 

Judging from the testimony of others, 
even at this age, she closely copied her 
mother's excellence. Inviolate order, un- 
broken regularity — these were necessity 
in her father's life — still he never had 
occasion to find fault with his daughter's 
housekeeping. Yet she succeeded to the 
care of a large house, with a regular family 
of seven, and the certainty of a constant flow 
of company, from the country round and 
the Jersey farms, those who considered 
"Uncle" or " Cousin John's" as headquar- 
ters ; besides the large circle of relatives 
6* 



9 o 



Christian Wo?na?i7iood. 



and acquaintances in the city who loved the 
happy hospitality dispensed so easily in that 
home. They were the class in the com- 
munity who entertain, and we have heard 
pleasant stories of the unexpected breakfast 
guests, the impromptu musical parties, de- 
tails of the social life which in her home 
was equally removed from stagnation or dis- 
sipation. Besides the housekeeping cares, 
which she discharged with such scrupulous 
fidelity and nicety that she won a reputa- 
tion for her ability among all her acquaint- 
ances; she regulated with judgment and 
remarkably swift and dexterous fingers the 
iamily wardrobe, handling tasks which 
many of the mothers of to-day would con- 
sider onerous. She also accepted much 
responsibility in the training of younger 
children, Striving at the same time to hold 
herself the companion and friend of the 
bereaved father and her elder brother. 

The most of us would consider this 
enough, to attempt for ourselves, all that we 
could reasonably expect from others, but 
with this she pursued her music as a regu- 
lar study ; took up the systematic reading 



M. JC. Hverls. 



9 1 



of textbooks, which she would have studied 
with her class if allowed, also giving time 
to careful reading of instructive miscellany, 
of which we have some record in one of 
her journals, where, under the heading of 
the different months, she has written Out 
the titles of the books read each month; 
opposite the name, her opinion of the book, 
how long she occupied herself with it, etc. 
And now we think the young girl has won- 
derfully well adapted herself and her time 
to fulfill all possible claims upon her. But 
outside of all this, she held her religious 
duties most sacred ; not only the appoint- 
ments of the. church, of which she was faith- 
fully observant, and the Sunday school class 
which she loved; the female prayer meeting, 
the Dorcas society, and visitation of the 
poor, these each found a place in her dis- 
tribution of time. 

It is no rare creation of fiction that we 
are sketching, but the girlhood which fore- 
shadowed the woman we knew so well, 
whose achievements in so many forms of 
industry, carried on with such apparent 
facility and unruffled calmness, were the 



92 C7iristian Woma?ihood. 

wonder and admiration of all who knew 
her. We think her life may afford us the 
simple solution of a problem which widely 
engrosses public attention — in defining the 
value and uses of education — if we accept 
the primary meaning of " leading-out " all 
the powers as full armor for life's combat 
and attainments. Education, as appre- 
hended by the popular sense, is too much 
confined to a multifarious and extended 
book-culture, and the young lady who has 
spent her ten or twelve years in training at 
the best female colleges, comes home often 
to lay aside books, then to pursue her plea- 
sures and employments at her own sweet 
will, enjoying the freedom from restraining 
system ; or from a higher vantage ground, 
with a painful sense of responsibility, to 
sigh over wasted hours and lost days, and 
long for a continuation of the wholesome 
regulations which insured some achieve- 
ment. They do not understand that this 
was but the training, not the work itself; 
and without any attempt or the most casual 
efforts to use their trained powers, these are 
but additions to the class whose accomplish- 



M. JT. Uverts. 93 

ments and well-earned class-honors in the 
wife and mother but serve to rehearse as 
part of a bright past. 

In the new assumption of domestic res- 
ponsibilities, she regrets her inability to 
engage in many plans of benevolence, but 
in her humility says, " I think God has 
marked out the path of duty very plainly." 
Yet she holds herself eagerly ready for 
every opportunity to do good. In the sum- 
mer of her seventeenth year, she went into 
New Jersey to spend a month among her 
relatives. Seeing the perfect destitution of 
religious privileges in the neighborhood 
where she was, she resolved to attempt a 
Sunday school organization. Her natural 
timidity suggested many fears. She says, 
"I have been almost disposed to shrink 
from such an undertaking, but on seeking 
aid at a throne of grace, I am strengthened 
and encouraged : may the Lord grant me 
success." She provided herself with tracts, 
visited through the community, and was 
rewarded by the promise of over thirty 
scholars. The school was duly organized, 
and in the three Sundays she remained, 



94 



Christian Womanhood. 



doubled its numbers. The success attracted 
friends, and she left the school as a perma- 
nent organization with sixty-nine scholars, 
besides officers and teachers. The school 
was maintained for years, and from it 
sprung a church, whose constituent mem- 
bers were those collected in the little school. 
Through one of her old friends we have 
learned something of her early labors. 
They both belonged to aboard of managers, 
representing the Infant School Society of 
Philadelphia, comprising under its supervi- 
sion five schools and hundreds of children. 
It was their duty to visit the school nearest 
their residence, teaching and supervising 
the instruction. We may regard this asso- 
ciation as among the advance guard of the 
Sunday school army, whose march through 
the land has been a long triumph. Then, 
the work was not accepted in its broadest 
possibilities, and gained but scanty support. 
Those who engaged in it were inspired only 
by the greatness of the cause; now, it 
claims a liberal recognition, and the enthu- 
siasm of numbers contributes to the interest 
of the work. Together, these friends origi- 



M. JT. Uverts. 95 

nated an evening school for girls who con- 
sidered themselves too old for the Sunday 
school. Here they endeavored to combine 
religious instruction with the rudiments of 
common education, meeting two evenings 
in the week. 

The same friend says : " For years I was 
with her some part of every day, and never 
heard her utter an unkind word of, or to 
any one." She adds, Margaret loved prayer; 
and it was often her custom, when several 
young friends met at her house, whether 
by invitation or accident, to invite them to 
the privacy of her own room " for a little 
prayer-meeting." 

She is about nineteen when we find in 
her journal a record of visiting among the 
poor, relieving their necessities, reading 
and explaining the Scriptures, praying with 
them, and holding particular conversation 
with individuals. But she deplored her 
ignorance, and remarks that she is struck 
with her extreme unfitness for such a work; 
she longs for further and gracious prepara- 
tion. Thus we find her anticipating the 
need, that is now extensively recognized, 



96 Christian Womanhood. 

of regular " bible readers," those who will 
go from house to house compelling men, 
with holy violence, to come into the king- 
dom. 

The factory with which her father was 
connected was only divided from her own 
home by the garden wall, and as she daily 
saw the crowd of girls coming and going, 
whose face and dress too plaiuly told the 
story of ignorance and neglect, her warm 
heart was touched, and she conceived this 
as work that awaited her, to do what she 
could to arouse them to a better life. Ac- 
cordingly she organized a class of these 
girls, and met with them certain evenings. 
But in this attempt she encountered many 
difficulties. As the novelty wore off, the 
girls were ashamed of their ignorance, and 
while some dropped away, others taxed her 
ingenuity and patience in contriving induce- 
ments to hold them. In different journal 
entries, she speaks of her factory class, for 
years, and it was only relinquished when 
she left her father's house for a new home. 

Through the records of her later journal, 
she notices the family birth-days with espe- 



M. jB~. Averts. 



97 



cial prayer. It became a habit of her life 
to make anniversary days opportunities of 
spiritual advancement. On ber nineteenth 
birth-day, we find this as a part of the entry 
made in her journal : " On interrogating 
myself as to the increase of my knowledge 
in the word of God, I can say it appears 
more clear and beautiful than ever, and if 
I neglect perusing its sacred pages, I feel 
unprepared for the duties of the day. The 
necessity of studying it appears to me 
more obvious than ever, and I do not feel 
so content to scan it as formerly. The 
character of Christ, as my righteousness, 
is unspeakably dear to me. As I dwell on 
his unparalleled love, when I come before 
God, the idea that he is there interceding, 
is a thought replete with consolation, and 
gives me a boldness at the throne of grace, 
which has not always been enjoyed." 

As a single instance of her Christian 
fidelity, we note that, as she is visiting in 
the country, on some occasion, she goes a 
long distance to see a friend, to whom she 
has written on the subject of religion, 
but thinks will now be more accessible, as 
7 



gS Christian Woma?ihood. 

" she is in trouble." How rare this watchful- 
ness among older Christians, we all know. 
It may be we visit friends in sorrow, but 
only allow ourselves the most general con- 
solations of Christian hope, when often the 
mourner longs for the assurance of hope, 
for faithful friendship to probe the wound 
and point to the Physician. 



V. 

Established Character. 

1 And all hearts do pray l God love her ' — 
Aye, and always, in good sooth, 
We may be sure he doth." 

JIN" reading her own record of 
these early years, there is no fact 
more prominent than her sacred 
regard for the Sabbath. From 
the first of her religious profession, she 
considered it a day set apart as holy to the 
Lord, a delight, and honorable. She made 
the distinction between holy day and holi- 




M. JT. Uteris. 99 

day, and accepted the faith of our best and 
wisest expounders of Bible truth, that while 
in a faithful life all days are the Lord's 
time to bless, the Christian's to enjoy, yet 
there is one day that was claimed on Sinai 
by the Majesty of heaven, and in the con- 
secration of this portion of time there is a 
promised blessing. Her view of the Sab- 
bath included the idea of rest, but it was a 
hallowed rest — neither expressed by mere 
bodily inactivity, nor animal exhilaration ; 
rather the body standing back while the 
spirit goes up to worship. She believed 
that there is an individual necessity for the 
careful observance of Sabbath time to pre- 
serve the proper balance between temporal 
and eternal things. For worldly cares 
beset^us so closely — follow us so persis- 
tently, that we habitually succumb to their 
rule, and religion languishes, morality 
grows lax, when all of time is given to 
man's discretionary care; but the hal- 
lowed seventh is an angel-hand, beckon- 
ing away and above. She argued its im- 
portance from its prominent place in the 
ancient law — announced in such awful 



loo Christian Womanhood. 

solemnity, afterward linked with such fear- 
ful penalties — enforced with a special rigor 
that is attached to no other of the com- 
mandments; and though we are not now 
answerable to the Mosaic law, yet, as she 
conceived it, we are each made a law to 
ourselves — an educated conscience must 
be the arbiter — the same spirit of rigorous 
care must guard the day from abuse and 
desecration. 

Thus she believed, and by her belief she 
shaped her life. In her journal we find al- 
most invariable mention of the approaching 
Sabbath, with prayer that she may find it a 
profitable day ; that in its recurrence the 
churches may be blest. The day was fully 
occupied in a diversity of duties : two pub- 
lic services, when for a long time she sung 
in the choir; two sessions of the Sunday 
school; besides home duties, which she 
never intermitted, of reading or studying 
the Bible with the younger members of 
the family, and her own private reading 
and meditation. To gain the more time, 
she arose earlier on that day, and regulated 
her time with conscientious fidelity. As 



M. K. Uverts. 101 

an instance of her careful improvement of 
the sacred hours, we have heard that, as 
she spent the interval between two services 
at an uncle's house quite near the church, 
she invariably retired from the lively family 
group with a book. She feared her natural 
gayety would gain the upper hand, and she 
would be betrayed into unprofitable con- 
versation. 

Later, in her own house, there was 
never unnecessary work done, no bustling 
preparation for the public service, no 
encouragement of company or visiting; 
and while the outward observance of the 
day was thus guarded, the family were 
taught, by precept and example, the spirit 
of the Sabbath law ; all mere worldly con- 
versation was excluded ; plans for the week, 
the trivial gossip that often follows public 
worship — these were discouraged; while 
the sermon, the Sunday school lesson, pecu- 
liar blessings, suggested kindred topics for 
family conversation. This was not an 
exacted submission to duty, but the willing 
homage of both love and reason. Her 
family will never forget her expression of 



102 Christian Womanhood. 

peaceful happiness, as she sung so often in 
family worship : 

" To-day is the Sabbath, the morning of rest, 
The day of the week which I surely love best." 

To her it was the Shadow of a Great Rock 
in the weary march, where footsore travel- 
ers might rest. It was to her a fountain 
in the desert of the week, whose waters 
were for cleansing and refreshment. 

As one of many similar expressions of 
feeling, we take the following, as suffici- 
ently indicative of frequently-recurring 
thoughts : 

11 But oh, this heart causes me much sorrow, 

to see so much of self and pride, and other equal- 
ly dreadful passions, is enough to drive me to 
despair, were it not for the cheering thought that 
Christ's righteousness is sufficient for the vilest 
of the vile." 

In mature years, and speaking of her 
beautiful youth, it has been frequently as- 
serted by those who knew her well, and 
saw from year to year the maintenance of 
that serene peacefulness, that this unruffled 
calm knew nothing of storm ; that she had 



M. JC. Everts. 103 

inherited a peculiarly lovely character, and 
in intelligently professing her allegiance to 
Christ there was no conflict ; that she was 
an exceptional case, one of those happy 
accidents of birth and fortune that may 
smile at trouble as one far removed. But 
we have often heard her speak of times of 
darkness, and profound spiritual, distress. 
And these daily records of thought and 
feeling, bear constant trace of conflict. 
Her levity, her hardness of heart, her 
want of consecration — these she laments 
with tears and words of honest sorrow; 
but, possessing the noble development of 
Christian spirit, she is able to look up from 
the sad contemplation of her own sin to 
the perfected righteousness of her Saviour. 
She can claim by faith her heirship through 
the new covenant, although unworthy ; 
she is a follower, if afar. Every plaint 
ends in praise. She rises in the divinely 
appointed order of thought and life from 
earth's sorrow to heaven's rapture. In the 
spirit of the inspired singer : " Though he 
slay me, yet will I trust in him. Bless the 
Lord, oh my soul." 



104 Christian Wo?na?i7iood. 

It is true that many wish to associate 
with the Christian life an idea of natu- 
ral development, of sweet and gradual 
growth; they are repelled by this vision 
of conflict, and the austerities of trial. 
But, however we may rebel against the 
plan, we can not alter the Divine order. 
It is, as Bunyan shows in his allegory, that 
the pilgrim's way leads past the terrors of 
Sinai, through the darkness of Doubting 
Castle, and the perils of Vanity Fair, even 
amid the gloom of the dark valley and across 
the dread river, before he comes to shining 
garments, the crown and palm. But re- 
flective and aspiring humanity, in all ages, 
responds to this divine appointment, and 
recognizes the necessity of purification by 
suffering; hence the idea of gaining eternal 
exemption from pain by submitting to ab- 
ject penance in this world. Even those 
who eschew religion in their scheme of 
ethics, yet inculcate the fact that human 
virtue is but the rough diamond, and it is 
only by attrition and trial we rise above a 
mere animal existence, and earn the right 
to enjoy. Modern novels, of the more ac- 



M> JT. Urerts. 105 

ceptable sort, represent the heroism of self- 
conquest in the brightest colors, and as 
essential to happiness. But Christ's exhor- 
tations to warfare are accompanied with 
abundant promise of love and succor. It 
must be conflict, but not uncheered — 
" Behold, I am with you alway." " We 
have an High Priest touched with the feel- 
ing of our infirmity." \ 

We might go on and dilate on this 
beautiful life, broadening in Christian ex- 
perience, widening in new channels of 
usefulness ; in church, society, and the 
home circle, wielding an influence any 
woman might covet, yet few attain, the 
more potent because exercised in such un- 
conscious humility ; but we have sketched 
the outlines, and they must be accepted as 
suggestions of the story that never could 
be fully told. For the "rest, we have only 
some letters to offer that pertain to this 
part of her life. 

As an instance of the kind of correspon- 
dence she carried on with her young 
friends, we subjoin the following, addressed 
7* 



106 C?irisUa?i Womanhood. 

to one of her friends in a distant part of 
the city. 

"Kensington, Nov. 17, 1838. 

" Your truly welcome epistle, my dear E., has 
remained unanswered until this time, not on ac- 
count of indifference, but because of circumstan- 
ces extremely inauspicious for writing. Had it 
been otherwise, selfishness alone would have 
prompted me to reply, for I need not tell you 
how great my pleasure is in hearing from one so 
dear as yourself, whose every interest is dear to 
my heart. As you have chosen a subject, I will 
take it up and bestow upon it a few passing 
thoughts. Memory is truly a wonderful faculty 
of the mind, that mysterious power which brings 
the thoughts, feelings, actions, events, pleasures, 
and pains of an existence in review before us, 
and causes them to wear the freshness of yester- 
day. Yes, it proves to us that mind and body 
have been formed by a Master-workman, no less 
than a God. In many instances, memory, I 
think, is as much a cordial to the heart as hope, 
for although without the cheering influences of 
the latter, despair might sometimes take posses- 
sion of the mind, yet, to one who has proved the 
fallacy of many of her promises, and experienced 
disappointment when his expectations were high- 
est, she is very apt to be received with consider- 
able distrust. The hope I allude to as frequently 
ending in disappointment, is not the hope which 
the Gospel inspires, but the promise of future 
good which, independently of religion, exists in- 



M. K. averts. 107 

discriminately in all the hearts of the human 
race. How melancholy, and yet how pleasant, 
are the visits of memory to our hearts ; how 
often do they occupy the moments which other- 
wise might be claimed by the present grief or 
unhappiness of our minds, and direct the thoughts 
from a channel so painful. But there are pains 
connected with memory. How often does it 
bring the spectral forms of those sins which have 
blackened our being, and which have risen as a 
cloud to heaven, before our eyes ; sins which, 
were it not for the great atonement in which we 
trust we have an interest, would be sufficient to 
bury us in the depths of gloom and despair. As 
it is, however, even these reminiscences may be 
productive of good, by increasing our gratitude, 
and teaching us lessons of humility. May we 
not suppose, dear E., that this faculty will ac- 
company us to heaven, and cause us to sing the 
praises of redeeming love in nobler, sweeter 
strains ? May it not afford topics for heavenly 
converse, and cause the glory of God (if it be 
possible to increase it) to appear still greater, by 
recounting his amazing goodness and love. But 
I must close these hasty lines, with St. Paul's 
admonition : ' Let us forget the things which 
are behind, and press forward to those things 
which are before.' I am afraid — -indeed, the 
thing is certain — that we are not making those 
advances in piety which should correspond with 
our privileges. We are not yet spiritually- 
minded -enough ; we are too worldly, and do not 
exhibit that crucifixion to the world which is re- 



108 Christian WomanJiood. 

quired of us. ! E., let us, with the aid of the 
Divine Spirit, live nearer the cross, with Eternity 
more distinctly in view, and with the account 
which we shall have to render always before us. 
May God grant us more of the spirit of deep de- 
votion, a nearer approximation to his blessed 
image, is the prayer of your sincere 

" Margaret." 

The following class report is interesting, 
as reflecting her character as a Sunday 
school teacher: 

u It is with mingled emotions of pleasure and 
pain that 1 report to you the state of the class over 
which it lias been my happiness to preside during 
the year that is about closing. For the first 
time, death has entered our circle and snatched 
from us one in all the budding bloom of youth 
and loveliness, with as fair prospect of life as 
any of her companions, at the opening of the 
year ; before many months had elapsed, consump- 
tion marked her for his own, and gradually, but 
steadily, did he pursue his victim, until, wearied 
with the conflict, she sank into his embrace. 
She has left behind her cheering evidence that, 
although lost to her friends here, she has only 
gone before to enter those blissful mansions pre- 
pared for the redeemed. Her last hours wore 
spent in prayer, which seemed, at that trying 
period, to be the only stay of her soul, and* the 
element in which she would only live. Her 



M. jK:. averts. 109 

anxiety for sinners was manifested in the mes- 
sages sent to her classmates, warning them to 
prepare for eternity now in youth, and assuring 
them that at the critical hour to which she had 
been brought, nothing could avail them but the 
blessed Saviour. Let this dispensation of Provi- 
dence admonish us, dear fellow-teachers, to im- 
prove more diligently every opportunity we enjoy 
with our classes, begging them, in Christ's stead, 
to be reconciled to Glod while the bloom of 
health and youth still mantles their cheek. 
Since the last report, three of our number have, 
by public profession, connected themselves to 
God, and a fourth entertains a hope that her sins 
have been forgiven, for the sake of the great 
Mediator. Pray for them, that, surrounded by 
the seductive charms of earth, they may adorn 
their profession, and hold fast the beginning of 
their confidence steadfast unto the end. The 
class at present numbers eleven. Our studies 
have been, for the most part, in concert with the 
school, besides some Scripture and hymns which 
have been committed. In closing this report, 
the writer would solicit an interest in your pray- 
ers, that a more just conception of the value of 
the immortal soul may so take possession of 
her mind, that she may labor with a zeal which 
many waters can not quench for the conversion 
of every individual entrusted to her care. 1 ' 

In evidence of her careful Bible study, 
we give the following exercise, as written 
out in her hand : 



no Christia?i Womanfiood. 

" Upon what evidence does the first chapter 
of Genesis rest its claims for the truth of its 
details ? 

" In deciding upon the authenticity of any 
document, it is necessary for us to be satisfied 
as to the degree of confidence of which the writer 
is deserving. Secondly, whether his statements 
bear internal marks of honesty and truth. 
Thirdly, whether any witnesses can be found to 
vouch for their credibility. 

" With regard to the chapter before us, it pur- 
ports to have been written by Moses, who was 
frequently favored with direct communications 
from heaven, and who spake to God, as he in- 
forms us, " face to face." The Saviour and all 
the apostles have conferred lasting honors on his 
writings, both by quoting them and referring to 
them on many occasions. In the sixteenth of 
Luke, Jesus supposes Abraham to be saying to 
the rich man (when he desired some one from the 
dead to be sent unto his brethren, that they 
might repent), that if they ' believed not Moses 
and the prophets, neither would they be per- 
suaded though one rose from the dead.' On the 
mount of transfiguration also, we find Moses one 
of two or three who were commissioned from the 
court of heaven to commune with the Son of God 
Incarnate. His testimony has been relied on in 
all ages of the world, and his writings have sur- 
vived the ruins of empires, and been transmitted 
to us with greater claims to antiquity than any 
others extant. 

11 The whole chapter bears evident marks of 



M. J£. liver Is. m 

truth and divinity ; the godlike sublimity which 
pervades it ; the conciseness and grandeur of its 
descriptions, so unlike the elaborate and studied 
expressions of human composition ; the exalted 
truths which it discloses, so totally beyond the 
conception of man, unaided by the Spirit of God ; 
and the self-evidencing honesty which character- 
izes all its details, furnish evidence sufficient to 
satisfy any mind not poisoned and blinded by in- 
fidelity. Independent of this chapter, we have 
nothing which gives us any intelligence relative 
to our own creation or that of any thing which 
surrounds us, and with heathen nations should be 
wandering in the mazes of doubt and absurdity, 
in endeavoring to account for our own existence 
and the host of created wonders which every 
where meet our eye. With regard to the exter- 
nal evidence of these details, we have, besides 
the Saviour and his apostles, the testimony of 
the whole Jewish nation, who first received the 
writings of Moses, and by whom, until this day, 
he is held in profound veneration. To him, also, 
may be traced the indistinct impressions which 
many nations of the earth have, relating to the 
fall of man, the universal deluge, the character 
of Noah, and many other things, which are evi- 
dently derived from the writings of Moses. 

" Q. 2d. Are the statements of this chapter 
to be received on the evidence of faith, or the 
testimony of reason ? 

". There is nothing in the statements of this 
chapter which our reason may not approve ; but" 
by its light alone, we should never have arrived 



U2 CJirislia?i li r oma?ihood. 

at the conclusions to which this Scripture brings 
us ; and it is ' by faith that we understand that 
the worlds were made by the word of God.' 

" Q. 3rd. At what time and under what cir- 
cumstances was that portion of Scripture writ- 
ten? 

" In the seventeenth of Exodus, fourteenth 
verse, is the first intimation we have of writing, 
although it is generally thought that this book 
was written either while Moses was in Midian, 
or while he was journeying through the wilder- 
ness. 

11 Q. 4th. The first chapter of Genesis admits 
a beginning to all things, but implies the 
pre-existence of Deity. Upon what other 
Scripture evidence does this important fact 
depend for support? Psalm xc. 2: 'Before the 
mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst 
formed the earth and the world, even from ever- 
lasting to everlasting, thou art God.' Isaiah 
lxiii. 16 : ■ Thou, Lord, art our Father, our 
Redeemer ; thy name is from everlasting.' Mi- 
cah v. 2 : ' Whose goings forth have been from 
of old, from everlasting.' Psalm cii. 25 : 'Of 
old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth, 
and the heavens are the work of thy hands.' 
Isaiah xliv. 6 : ' Thus saith the Lord, the King 
of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts : 
I am the first, and I am the last ; and besides me 
there is no God.' 1 Timothy vi. 16: 'Who 
only hath immortality, dwelling in the light that 
ilo man can approach unto.' " 



M. JT. Uverts. 



J1 3 



In 1835, representatives from the differ- 
ent city churches organized a " Female 
Tract Society," auxiliary to the Baptist 
General Tract Society. Miss Burtis be- 
came an active member, and was chosen to 
succeed Mrs. Eliza Allen, as Secretary of 
the Society. From a book of Society re- 
cords, we select one of her annual reports. 
This was her initial effort in public affairs, 
which proved her capacity for administra- 
tion, and served as training for the future : 

" March 22, 1842. 

" Since we last appeared before you, another 
year has gone to be numbered with those beyond 
the flood, and the waves of oblivion have rolled 
over its grave ; happy would it be, could their 
waters wash away its numerous sins, and leave 
no dark record to condemn. 

" From the nature of our organization, the 
material for a report is scanty. Our operations 
resemble the noiseless stream, too shallow of it- 
self to subserve the purposes of navigation, but 
aiding the mighty ocean, on whose bosom is 
borne the ships of every nation, laden with treas- 
ures of every clime. "We humbly hope that 
with advancing time there will be an increase of 
interest ; and that, as the parent Society pre- 
pares and circulates volumes, rich with the 

8 



114 Christian }f r oma?ihood '. 

treasures of knowledge, and begins to meet the 
numerous wants of the denomination, those who 
are now sleeping will wake up to the importance 
of the publication cause. Does any one inquire 
what this Society proposes to accomplish ? or 
why it is thought so desirable to print and send 
throughout the country volumes such as the 
parent institution asks for means to publish ? 
Were all our countrymen blessed with religious 
advantages similar to those which we possess ; 
and could they, as the light of the Sabbath 
dawned, bend their weary steps to the house of 
God, and sit under the soul-refreshing droppings 
of the sanctuary, or even at short intervals en- 
joy this unspeakable privilege, apathy would not 
so much surprise us ; but when we consider the 
immense numbers whose ears are never saluted 
by the sound of the ' church-going bell,' in whose 
desolate neighborhood no messenger of salvation 
lifts his voice to warn, instruct, or encourage ; 
where few pages of religious truth ever meet the 
eye ; nay, more, where many grow up from child- 
hood to youth, and, in some instances, from 
youth to manhood, without hearing the Gospel 
of salvation proclaimed ; when we consider all 
this, indifference in Christians appears to us 
criminal. The Society, then, to which this is 
auxiliary, proposes, so far as their means will 
justify, to meet this destitution, and give to the 
multitudes depending on our denomination for 
their religious literature, such works as will, by 
the blessing of the Most High, lead them in the 
way of salvation, and, in the absence of the liv- 



M. tf. Uverls. n_j 

ing teacher, silently instruct them in their duty 
to God, themselves, and their fellow-men. We 
appeal to your sympathies, your consciences, 
and your principles, as Christians, and ask, in the 
name of Him whom you call Master and Lord, 
whether these thousands shall die uninstructed 
and unenlightened, when it is in your power to 
send them the Word of life ; or whether you will 
resolve to sacrifice what may even be desirable 
to make them sharers in your privileges. The 
Great Head of the Church asks this, not as a 
favor, but as his right. He bids us follow him, 
and bear upon our shoulders the crosses in the 
way. He asks not what we can conveniently 
spare from that purse which his own hand has 
bestowed, and constantly replenishes ; but bids us 
take for our necessities only what is requisite, and 
demands the remainder for his cause. How, 
dear sisters, will it be found at last, when the 
Judge of all the earth shall institute an inquiry 
into our conduct ? Think you our hands will be 
stainless, and our consciences clear, in this mat- 
ter ? Will it then be manifested that we have 
faithfully employed the talents entrusted to our 
keeping ? By all that is desirable in heaven, 
and awful in the torments of the lost ; by all 
that is valuable in the approving smile of that 
Saviour who, for man's salvation, became obedi- . 
ent unto 'death, we entreat those who live under 
the meridian splendor of the Gospel, heretofore 
unmindful of their less favored brethren, to arise, 
shake off sloth, and acquit themselves as good 



n6 Christian Womanfiood . 

soldiers of the cross, so that at last the blood of 
souls may not be found on their skirts. 

11 In closing our report, your Board would 
solicit a continued interest in your prayers, as 
well as your patronage ; and in return would ask 
for you the bestowment of the grace and Spirit 
of God, that your lives may be crowned with 
his benediction, and your hope for the world to 
come full of glory and immortality." 

Perhaps the most fitting conclusion to 
our retrospect of her early life is to be 
found in a letter received from an early 
friend, Dr. Thomas D. Anderson, of New 
York: 

w Your letter, which reached me late last 
week, bore the first intelligence I had received 
of the departure of your most excellent mother 
from earth. As you may suppose, it deeply 
impressed me, much as though a beloved sister 
had been taken away. For, although we have 
seen but little of each other for the last twenty- 
five years of our lives, yet, for a period of two 
or three years previous, we were intimately 
•acquainted, as youthful members of the same 
church, and companions, with several others, in 
the same Christian social circle. * * * * 

"My acquaintance with Miss Margaret K. 
Burtis was formed in the winter of 1835-6, when 
I had gone to Philadelphia to pursue my studies 



M. J£. Averts. 117 

in the University of Pennsylvania. I united 
with the First Baptist Church, and in engaging 
in the Sabbath school and attending the prayer- 
meetings, I became acquainted with her, among 
others similarly employed. I soon found that, 
although quite young, she enjoyed the implicit 
confidence of the older members of the Church. 
Indeed, at that age, her Christian conduct was 
so marked, that it was frequently the subject of 
conversation (when she was not present) among 
her brethren and sisters, and was held up as an 
example worthy of imitation. Although her 
society was much sought after, her attendance 
on the meetings for social prayer, as well as the 
more public services of the sanctuary, was so 
constant, that her rare absence could be almost 
always accounted for by indisposition. Nor was 
she there by constraint ; no rigid exaction of 
duty secured her presence in the Sunday school 
room or at the praying-circle ; she was there 
from choice, when her smiling countenance, her 
noiseless and unobtrusive activity, and especially 
her voice of melody hymning her Saviour's 
praises, told that' not the body merely, but all 
the powers of the soul were waiting on the 
Lord. 

" There was another point, which does not 
occur to me only now, but one I have often 
thought on with pleasure. Her conversation — 
and her powers in this respect were a special 
endowment, as well as the result of a well- 
trained mind — was eminently religious. I mean 
not at set times, when the occasion seemed 



n8 Christian Womanhood. 

specially suited to it, -when it would seem almost 
irreverent not thus to key the speech ; but in 
the moments of joyous abandon among her youth- 
ful associates, when the pulse of feeling beat 
highest, when there was no restraint of solemn 
association, her conversation as naturally and as 
buoyantly flowed along Christ-ward as the heart 
turns to the object of its love. This was the 
charm of her society ; and I can say with cer- 
tainty, from the remembered utterances of many 
of our then intimate associates, it made inter- 
course with those who, in some instances, may 
have possessed more of worldly attraction, un- 
entertaining and insipid. I think hers was a 
power that unconsciously and silently has exer- 
cised an influence on many hearts ; by which 
through life they have sought to set a happy, 
cheerful, christian utterance among their chief 
means of commending the Gospel of Christ. 

11 In estimating her character, we must not 
imagine that it grew by being fostered beneath 
the mild and careful nurture of parental piety. 
Margaret had the grief of losing her mother at a 
very early age ; and her father, at the period of 
which 1 write, had never professed himself to be 
a disciple of Jesus. "When most girls are lead- 
ing an unreflecting and ease-loving life, she had 
assumed the grave responsibilities of the matron 
of her father's home, with the additional care of 
the home charge of three brothers. Still, on en- 
tering the house, no one, by the slightest sign 
of neglect, could miss the hand of the most ac- 
complished housekeeper ; and yet with such tact 



M. JT. averts. 119 

was all this attended to, that industry laid too 
few restraints on social life ever to be intruded 
on the attention of guests ; or suffer the many 
evening entertainments, which are looked back 
upon by those who mingled in them as some of 
the pleasantest memories of the times, to be de- 
prived of her who was one of their chief attrac- 
tions. A discipline that thus early threw on her 
the duty and privilege of ministering to a fond 
though widowed father, and motherless brothers, 
exerted its purifying power on her disposition, 
and through grace clothed the spirit with not 
only unselfishness, but actual self-forgetfulness. 
It was this that rendered all the little reunions 
at the house so delightful. You experienced a 
joy, yet you were not troubled with a sense of 
obligation. You were made happy, yet so un- 
consciously, that you had no one to acknowledge 
as the dispenser of the bliss ; the reserved forgot 
their shyness ; the unattractive found themselves 
centres of influence ; wishes were so readily 
gratified that no one had any thing to regret ; 
while music, which Miss Burtis had cultivated 
apparently as a means of ministering to others' 
pleasure, rather than a selfish accomplishment, 
or to provoke admiration, bound within its spell 
of harmonies all hearts. A desire to please, as 
an aim, rather than to be pleased, a christian 
self-forgetfulness, thus accomplished within the 
sphere of social enjoyment, that triumph, to real- 
ize which in the same degree among the people 
of my charge, has been to me an unattained 
effort through my pastoral life. For nothing 



120 Christian Womanhood. 

was ever admitted derogatory of the christian 
profession ; while so pure was the joy, so elevat- 
ing the influence, that the young could often 
turn with zest from the frivolities of the world's 
pastimes, and crave admission to the entertain- 
ments, which exemplified the truth that ' godli- 
ness is profitable for the life which now is, as 
well as for that which is to come.' 

" Among the many things that come throng- 
ing to my mind of memories associated with your 
mother, I can only take time at present to refer 
to one other : the appreciation with which she 
listened to the preaching of the Gospel. Of all 
hearers, male or female, I have no remembrance 
of any one who, at so tender an age, listened 
with such rapt attention, and who received such 
delight at some beautiful development of truth, 
or at some fresh announcement of a doctrine that 
had been already adopted by the soul. These 
delights were not momentary, but I hazard little 
in saying, that I doubt not, until the day of her 
death, she could remember sermons preached by 
Drs. Brantly and Ide in the years to which I 
refer that, being received in faith and enforced by 
prayer, were means of her own spiritual growth. 

u In consistency of christian practice, in fervor 
of spiritual devotion, in steadiness of obedience 
to the claims of duty, in joyous fidelity to Christ 
in the offices of life, in maturity of christian 
judgment, and in the sanctification of the charms 
and graces of endowment and cultivation to the 
Master's use, Margaret Burtis, from the age of 
seventeen to twenty, has had, within my know- 
ledge, no peer among those of like years." 



VI. 

M.ARRIAGE AND REMOVAL, 

1 1 Across the threshold led, 
And every tear kissed off as soon as shed, 
His house she enters, there to be a light 
Shining within, when all without is night ; 
A guardian angel o'er his life presiding, 
Doubling his pleasure, and his cares dividing." 

|T "WAS during a great Bible con- 
vention held in Philadelphia in 
1836, that Margaret Burtis made 
the acquaintance which eventu- 
ated in her change of home and name. 
"W. "W. Everts, then a theological student 
at Hamilton, attended the convention, and 
in the dispersion of the throng of visitors, 
was assigned to the hospitality of her 
father's house. It was not strange that, 
under the same roof, Margaret's peculiar 
attractiveness of person and manner, seen 
8* 




122 Christian Womanhood. 

in her character of hostess — the always en- 
gaging position for a woman, and by her in- 
vested with a tender grace, in her three-fold 
relation in the bereaved household, should 
deepen the impressions of the few days into 
feeling, in the young student, and before 
he left the house he proposed correspon- 
dence. She, whom daughters might take 
for a model, sought her father's approba- 
tion for the continued acquaintance ; but 
he, fond and fearful of the hardships of a 
minister's lot for his darling, dreading, as 
parents may, the stranger love, that must 
come before all others, disapproved the cor- 
respondence, and there, apparently, it ended. 
She remained to cheer home, meanwhile 
forming other acquaintances, but refusing 
any tie that could take her away ; and he 
went back to his studies, dreaming of the 
"perfect woman, nobly planned," until, in 
time, the remembrance of that brief ac- 
quaintance was but a sunny spot in the 
shadowy past. 

In 1839, the student graduated, married 
Miss Maria Wyckoff, daughter of the late 
Elder C. P. Wyckoff, and at once went to 



M. 1£. averts. 123 

New York to become the first pastor of the 
Tabernacle Baptist Church. After a short 
thrge years of happy married life, the young 
wife died, leaving two daughters, one but 
an infant of a few days. 

It was a simple and natural process that, 
after a time, took the thoughts of the now 
saddened young man, in his solitary labors, 
and with his motherless children calling for 
the care and love he could not give, back 
to the memory of that bright face and form, 
which, to his early fancy, embodied all that 
was bright and good. The vicinage of his 
present home afforded easy opportunity for 
a renewal of the acquaintance, and time 
had so far modified the father's objections, 
and so singularly marked the daughter for 
such a position, that no further obstacles 
were raised, and, in November of 1843, they 
were married at the old home, and left for 
the new. 

It would be entirely out of keeping with 
her character, to suppose that she could 
enter the new relation of wife, without 
serious and prayerful consideration. Yet, 
we have only a few words of her own, that 



124 Christian Womanhood. 

express any feeling in view of the change — 
those addressed to the one who is soon to 
become her husband : " How short the time 
is becoming, before the event that seals our 
happiness or woe, shall take place. If our 
lives are unhappy, it will be our own fault, I 
am confident. Let us begin by a careful 
attention to little things, and not think that 
this care will only be needed at first, but 
continue in the practice. Many begin well, 
who, I believe, fail from this very circum- 
stance, and become wretched : first, indif- 
ference, then coldness, then neglect, then 
misery; than which nothing this side of 
the bottomless pit can be worse." 

The church, to which she came as pas- 
tor's wife, was an adventurer, if we may so 
speak, in the Christian world, the result of 
an experimental seeking for more extended 
usefulness. Revival efforts, which had pre- 
vailed in the State with powerful and bene- 
ficial results, were distrusted by the denomi- 
nation in the city, while they maintained 
their existence by the observance of the 
ordinary means of grace, but lost the richer 
blessings that exalted their brethern. The 



M. J£. Uverts. 125 

late Deacon Colgate, a man of rare spirit- 
ual discernment, and of great practical 
worth to the Oliver-street Church, studied 
these revival measures, and became con- 
vinced that they might be used to advance 
the interests of the Church : it was only a 
wise adaptation of the means of grace to the 
varying circumstances of the people. But 
he felt the futility of such an effort in the 
conservative atmosphere of the old Church, 
and rightly judged that this might be a 
leading from the Lord, that they should di- 
vide their numbers, and so work in different 
ways. He found others like-minded, and 
they left their church connection to unite 
with a remnant of the Mulberry-street 
Church and another small church, the 
united bodies calling themselves the Taber- 
nacle Baptist Church. After a few months 
of supplies, they gave a unanimous call to 
"W. W. Everts, who came from his gradua- 
tion to his first pastorate, as their first 
pastor. 

The young church attracted public atten- 
tion, by their remarkable success. Large 
congregations were soon gathered in, and 



126 Christian Womanhood. 

many were baptized into their membership. 
In the first winter, Elder Jacob Knapp 
labored with them, through a series of 
meetings, which added hundreds to the 
church itself, and communicated a revival 
impulse to all the city churches. In three 
years they had trebled their membership, 
numbering over nine hundred, while the de- 
nomination had made considerable growth 
and aggression, in the erection of new 
houses of worship, and new preaching 
stations. Evidently this growth was but 
the beginning of a new order of things, and 
the pastor of the Tabernacle Church fore- 
seeing that, in the encroachment of busi- 
ness, their location would soon be out of 
the way, encouraged the idea of coloniza- 
tion. Most opportunely, as they felt, a 
house, fronting on St. John's Park, built 
by Dr. Cox's congregation, was offered for 
sale. They succeeded in accomplishing a 
provisional purchase, and to strengthen and 
insure the success of the new enterprise, 
Mr. Everts felt it his duty to leave the now 
strong and established church, though 
against the wishes of the body, and go out 



M. JT. Uverts. 127 

with the colony, as pastor of the Laight- 
street Church. But the march of church 
and residence property up town, was more 
general and extended further than any 
would have dared predict in so short a time, 
and while the Tabernacle went up with the 
current, Laight Street was left just a little 
out of the way, and subject to constant 
drafts on its numerical strength, by re- 
movals. Still, for a period of eight years, 
their average of annual additions amounted 
to seventy, while it stood in the ranks with 
working churches, ready for the claims of 
broad benevolence. 



VII. 

A New Home. 

11 Contented toil, and hospitable care, 
And kind connubial tenderness are there ; 
And piety, with wishes placed above, 
And steady loyalty, and faithful love-" 

|N assuming the relation of wife, 
she took upon herself a combi- 
nation of domestic cares and re- 
sponsibilities. It was not in the 
usual course of newly-wedded life, making 
the first essay, with only the husband's par- 
tial love to criticise, with the gradual spring- 
ing up of a family circle around them ; but 
it was at once to take her place in the fami- 
ly that had formed around another. She 
must gather the loose threads of family dis- 
cipline and domestic economy, and weave 
them into a pattern of order and beauty, 
while her sensibilities would be keenly alive 




M. K. JPverls. 129 

to implied comparison or blame. She has 
spoken sometimes of the diffidence with 
which she assumed these duties, but, it is 
true, that in their faithful discharge, " none 
named her but to praise." 

The servants already in the family, re- 
mained with her as long as she kept house 
in New York, and no two more attached 
friends the family left behind in their sub- 
sequent removal. For she had nursed them 
in sickness, sympathized with them in trou- 
ble, counseled and cared for them, at once 
the kind mistress and constant frierra. She 
never forgot them in her visits to the city, 
but always sought out their poor home, 
and gave them a rare bit of happiness, by 
her sunshiny presence, and the greatest 
news of their lonely lives — the story of the 
growing children and the family fortunes. 
The sisters and mother that she met in the 
new home, at once gave her a heart-adop- 
tion, and they found in the home's new 
mistress its greatest charm. 

But.it was in the assumption of her most 
arduous charge, the care of the children, 
that her uncommon force and beauty of 



130 Christian Womanhood. 

character showed most resplendent. The 
young mother, when dying, gave the elder 
child to her own sister, and afterward, her 
family would have claimed them both. To 
this the father objected, and when Margaret, 
soon to become his wife, learned the plan, 
with a noble unselfishness, she opposed it 
strongly, urging the sacredness of the fami- 
ly ties she hoped to cement rather than 
destroy, begging that both of the little ones 
be left to their father and herself. At 
length, though with reluctance, they allow- 
ed her Saims as right, and the children 
were given back to their home. 

It was but a short time after their mar- 
riage that she visited, in company with her 
husband, the parents of his first wife, with 
whom Mr. Everts ever maintained the 
warmest intimacy. We have often heard 
the visit alluded to, by different members 
of the family, as well as by the visitor her- 
self, who spoke of it as then seeming to be 
a severe ordeal. The old lady, a woman 
of stately presence, and positive character, 
had invited the large family connection to 
fill the house, in honor of the guests, and 



M. K. Uverts. 



!3» 



with, perhaps, many a thought of the bride 
death had so soon claimed, the friends 
awaited their coming. A sister said : " As 
soon as she crossed the threshold, and we 
looked into her eyes, there was a general 
thrill of surprised satisfaction, while the 
involuntary exclamation passed from mouth 
to mouth — 'How much like Maria!' and 
mother met her with tearful embraces, and 
called her 'daughter.'" The impressions 
of this first visit ripened into a mutual at- 
tachment, which lasted through life. In- 
deed her facility in making friends, seemed 
without limit. As, in the following sum- 
mer, they took a jaunt in the lake region of 
New York State, among the old family 
friends of her husband, it seemed but a 
round of conquests ; the plain farmer folk, 
and city bred, old and young, all fell in love 
with " Cousin Margaret." She seemed at 
once to step into the confidences of a life- 
time, and to be exalted into the family ora- 
cle, if we might judge from the appeals 
constantly made to her nice sense of pro- 
priety, her taste, or judgment. 
Although the care of her little brothers, 



*3 2 



C/mstian JVbmanhood. 



served her, in a general way, as preparation 
for the charge of the children whom she 
now lovingly claimed as her own ; yet the 
assumption of motherhood, without the ten- 
der tie born of sorrow, is, at best, a trying 
ordeal for a woman. The long conflict 
with the will which another bequeathed, 
meeting with the numberless disagreeable 
traits, which, unsoftened by that mysterious 
tie of blood, stand in unredeemed ugliness 
— through all, to give the tender love, the 
unfailing patience, the cheerful self-denial, 
which the name of mother implies to our 
heart, this was the lot she chose for herself; 
and how completely she filled it, only those 
know who saw her in her home, and those 
best, who were so long the recipients of 
her often unmerited, yet never failing love. 
The fact of their mother's loss, which could 
have nothing but painful significance to 
their minds, she ever kept, with a delicate 
reticence, that allowed no comment before 
the children, that could enlightea or wound 
them. Once, a lady expressing surprise at 
the age of the older daughters, inquired, 
before them, if these were her children, " I 



M. K. Uveris. 



*33 



call them mine," was the dignified response, 
that allowed the puzzled woman no further 
opportunity for inquiry or remark. As her 
own children grew up around her, no one 
could have detected any partiality that dis- 
tinguished the children of two mothers, 
the older ones always having the prece- 
dence accorded to age in family order ; and 
this impartiality extended through her life, 
even in the division of her private property 
she wished no difference made between the 
children — a most rare example of disin- 
terested affection. Taking her in all her 
relations, as friend, mistress, wife, and mo- 
ther, in no one of these, perhaps, do we 
gee a more beautiful reflex of her virtues, 
than in her relation to these motherless 
children. 

She writes to a sister of their arrival in 
New York, and the reception of friends : 

" November 20th, 1843. 

"My dear Sister, — You have doubtless thought 
it strange that I have not, ere this, replied to 
your very welcome epistle" received in the Sum- 
mer ; but such have been the multiplicity of my 
engagements that almost all correspondence has 



134 Christian Womanhood \ 

had to be laid aside. And even now, in conse- 
quence of your cousin's haste, I shall have 
to send a mere apology for a letter. We arrived 
in this city on Tuesday last, one week to-mor- 
row, after having passed a week very pleasantly 
between Baltimore, Philadelphia and Xewark ; 
and now begin to feel quite settled in this city 
of my adoption. As you may suppose, all seemed 
very strange at first — particularly as the circle 
of acquaintance I left behind was large, and much 
endeared ; but from the little opportunity afforded 
me of judging, the New York friends will, by 
their kindness, and hospitality, soon supply, in a 
degree at least, the deficiency I now feel. Last 
Thursday we appointed to receive calls from the 
Laight-street and Tabernacle members, when. not- 
withstanding the unpleasantness of the weather, 
quite a large number favored us. This afternoon 
■ we expect the different branches of the Wyckoff 
family to take tea with us — as yet, I have be- 
come acquainted with none Qf them. To-mor- 
row, or rather Wednesday, we are invited to take 
tea with Mr. C, our groomsman, where some 
of his friends are expected to meet us ; and 
Thursday week Mr. Everts has appointed for the 
ministers and their wives to pay us a visit. 
Besides these, several others have given invita- 
tions, which we shall probably attend to shortly." 

We have her own look-out upon new- 
duties, in a letter addressed to a friend but 
a short time after her marriage : 



M. K. Uverts. 



135 



" Febktjary 27, 1844. 

" My Dear Elizabeth, — That I have not 
written you before this, has not been the result 
of forgetfulness or disinclination. Had you been 
an eye-witness of my many engagements, I feel 
assured your generous heart would acquit me 
and say that it could scarcely have been other- 
wise. Since coming here, there has rarely been 
a day that I have had the command of my own 
time ; and this has been particularly the case for 
about two months past, during which our Church 
have been holding meetings. I have yet to learn 
that a change produced in circumstances and 
relations at marriage, has necessarily to oblit- 
erate feelings of attachment long cherished in 
the heart ; far otherwise ; when removed from the 
loved circle, we begin to know somewhat of the 
depth of affection felt towards them, and often 
long for their society. I do not expect, situated 
as I now am, to form many close friendships. 
The feeling will have to be one of general good 
will and complacency to all ; with some, of 
course, I am more frequently thrown, and shall 
be more intimate ; but the course, at present, 
seems to be most prudent to show as little par- 
tiality as possible. 

" As you will probably want to know some of 
the particulars of my situation, it is unnecessary 
for me to say that my letter will look egotistical ; 
the personal pronoun J, it would be more agree- 
able, to me, to dispense with ; but from the nature 
of the case, this can not be. I seem to hear you 
say, " Tell me all that interests vou." Well, 



136 Christian Womanhood. 

then, to begin with, do you ask me how I like 
my new abode ? Very much, indeed ; and how 
could it be otherwise ; my dear husband is one 
of the very best — which cousin Maggie, who has 
just left me, will testify — kind, and solicitous to 
a fault, and disposed to do all in his power for 
my happiness. I am very comfortably situated 
in my home, which is located in a lovely part of 
the city and only about a square and a half from 
our meeting-house, which is opposite St. John's 
Park — if you remember where that is. Our 
family consists, at present, of Mr. Everts' mother, 
(who expects to remain with us until some time 
in June), a brother, (who has just come from the 
north-east part of the State), who will probably 
stay with us some time, as he wishes to get into 
business in the city — Mr. W. and his little son, 
the former of whom we consider a great acquisi- 
tion to our number, as, besides being pious and 
exceedingly agreeable, he is uncommonly intel- 
lectual, and communicates constantly in the 
family much valuable information. In a few 
weeks we are expecting Mr. Everts' brother and 
his wife, who, you know, were in Philadelphia at 
the New Market-street Church. Mr. Jeremiah 
Everts has been injured very seriously, and it 
has been feared fatally, and for several weeks 
has been suffering severely, and finally given up 
to die. My husband, much concerned, consulted 
a physician, in this place, who hopes to be able 
to cure him ; and for this purpose, as soon as 
navigation opens, we expect him to visit us in 
order to have the best medical advice. 



M. £:. Averts. 



'37 



" March 4th. As usual, interruptions, of vari- 
ous kinds, have made it necessary for me to lay 
by my sheet, and, until this morning, have not 
been able to resume my pen. Margaretta Comp- 
ton will be the bearer of this epistle, as she is 
now paying me a visit on her way from Charles- 
ton to Philadelphia. Very unexpectedly she 
arrived here on Friday evening, and expects to 
leave to-morrow. How much I enjoy the society 
of old friends, and how much should I prize a 
visit from my dear E. 

" A word more about Church affairs. In this 
respect, we are much blessed of a kind Provi- 
dence, for which I would be unfeignedly thankful. 
The members of the Church are very kind and 
affectionate, and seem unusually inclined to con- 
tribute to our happiness, which, you know, adds 
every thing to our comfort and peace of mind. 
Yesterday sixteen were added, twelve of whom 
were baptized ; at the Communion previous, 
seventeen. The Lord has blessed us in some 
degree ; but, oh, how much yet remains to be 
accomplished. I never supposed that I should 
like N"ew York as I now do, and only pray that 
grace may be given me to discharge the numer- 
ous and responsible duties I find devolving upon 
me. 0, dear E., much of divine assistance is 
needed in the case of every Christian, but a 
larger portion seems to be indispensable in a post 
like mine. " Sanctify me by Thy truth " ; " Thy 
word is truth." Every Wednesday afternoon 
we have a female prayer-meeting at our house, 
which is, I trust, profitable to those who meet ; 

9* 



i 3 8 



Christian Womanhood. 



on the first Monday afternoon in the month, a 
Missionary prayer-meeting. Our Sunday school 
is very flourishing, numbering some where about 
three hundred scholars. 

" How are you getting on in Second Street? I 
regret to hear of the apathy which is said to 
exist in most of the Philadelphia churches. 
And how, dear E., is your own state of mind? 
I hope that long ere this, the clouds that so long 
obscured your sky have been dissipated, and that 
your path is shining brighter and brighter. The 
only place of safety for us, is at the foot of the 
cross, with the disposition of little children, 
waiting the direction of our Heavenly Father. 
May this be your place and spirit, and I am sure 
you will be a happy and useful Christian. To- 
night is the Monthly Concert of prayer; how 
sweet and precious is this christian union, and 
what a cloud of incense now rises to the Head of 
the church, for the extension of hip kingdom. 
This afternoon we had a very interesting Female 
Missionary prayer-meeting, which I think you 
would have enjoyed ; M. Compton did, verj 
much. At our female meetings, we endeavor to 
have as little reserve as possible, and all feel free 
to take any part they see fit, either to pray, 
speak, or sing. The tie that binds Christian 
hearts is very dear, is it not? — and if dear on 
earth, what will it be in Heaven ? 

.... " Be kind enough to see Miss Bruce 
and request her to remember me affectionately to 
my old scholars and fellow-teachers, and tell her 
how gratified I should be to receive a letter, giv- 



M. 1C. Uverts. 139 

ing a detailed account of their affairs. Please 
present my warm regards to your Pa, with my 
sincere wishes for his health, temporal and 
spiritual, but more particularly for the latter ; 
that, when his flesh shall fail, his soul shall be 
received to mansions on high. And now, dear - 
E., do write me soon, and pay me a visit as soon 
as you can make it convenient. Accept much 
love, and believe me, as ever, 

" Your attached friend, 

" Margaret." 



VHL 

Wome Life. 

"The sober comfort, all the peace which springs 
From the large aggregate of little things ; 
On these small cares of daughter, wife, or friend, 
The almost sacred joys of home depend." 

JESIDES at once taking the lead 
among the female laborers of the 
church, she stood side by side 
with her husband, in sharing his 
work and responsibilities. She visited for 
and with him, aided him in correspondence, 




140 



Christian Womanhood. 



thought and planned for him, and by her 
buoyancy, kept him from despondency 
when pressed by cares. Later, in addition 
to his arduous work as a city pastor, with 
a young church, while he took upon himself 
the toils of authorship, every page went to 
the printers, copied in her fair, legible, 
hand. Though then with young children, 
demanding her time and strength, there was 
no confliction among her duties. Necessa- 
rily much confined at home, she yet found 
time for outside claims, and foremost of 
these in her affection, was the cause of the 
Grande Ligne Mission. Thus early in its 
history, they struggled for existence against 
the persecution of the Catholics, in poverty, 
misapprehension, and with few friends. 
Madame Feller, with true heroism, wrote 
appeals to the churches far and near, as she 
could, visited among them to use her per- 
sonal influence, but still maintained her 
post, while she and her fellow-laborers de- 
nied themselves every luxury, and, with 
only life's necessities, labored, waiting the 
Lord's time, Mrs. Everts felt the kindling 
sympathy that heroism inspires in a mind 



M. J5T. averts. 141 

capable of the same, and used all of her 
influence in the community to awaken and 
strengthen sympathy with the mission. In 
one of Madame Feller's visits, Mrs. Everts 
became personally acquainted with her, and 
thus commenced a friendship, which both 
prized, which was kept warm by the inter- 
change of visits, and a correspondence of 
years. In the family, Madame Feller was 
often held up as a model of noble Christian 
character, and the youngest born received, 
as a legacy, the name of Henriette Feller. 
It was in the enlargement and growing 
claims of these duties that the first years 
of her New York life were passed, of which 
we have no record but memory, which re- 
calls her as the ruling presence in a happy, 
busy home, where domestic order moved 
in unbroken routine ; her husband's labors 
lightened by her assistance, the children's 
daily tasks conducted by her with unfail- 
ing regularity, the frequent guests and 
round of callers, always met with cordial 
and ready welcome, while her peculiar du^ 
ties, as pastor's wife, were performed with 
marked and increasing devotedness. Since 



142 Christian Womanhood. 

hei death, an old friend speaking of his 
lively remembrance of her beautiful charac- 
ter, alludes to a little incident, which occur- 
ed during this time, and pictures graphi- 
cally her tender, graceful courtesies. It 
was after spending the morning with Mr. 
Everts, in the cell of a condemned crimi- 
nal, they came, weary and depressed, to 
the latter's house, where Mrs. Everts pre- 
pared their late meal, and by her sym- 
pathetic conversation, insensibly drew them 
from gloomy thoughts.; then seating her- 
self at the piano, by her well-chosen songs 
and irresistibly-sweet voice, won them to 
repose and serenity. It is but a simple re- 
cord of an ordinary incident in her daily life ; 
but the charm of her tact made the indeli- 
ble impression that survived a lapse of 
twenty years. 

A letter, written in 1847, exhibits her 
constant and pervasive religious feeling, 
and, amidst her busy life, her tender sym- 
pathy for the friendless poor : 



M. $£. JPverls: 143 

"New York, October 27, 1847. 

" How much, dear Lizzie, I enjoyed your 
visit ; it seemed so much like olden times. 
Such meetings of loved ones are green spots 
along the journey of life, that are truly refresh- 
ing and delightful. May the Lord grant us 
many such meetings, while it may please him 
to permit us to sojourn here. * * * Poor Sarah 
has been bowed with sorrow since you left. 
Her brother died the Saturday after you left. 
His sufferings must have been great, from his 
emaciated appearance after death ; but he was a 
patient sufferer ; so afraid was he of complain- 
ing, that his disease had progressed to an alarm- 
ing extent before any one knew it. The wife 
was lying sick when he died, and was in the 
room with his dead body from Saturday night 
until Monday morning. She is getting better, 
but, poor thing, feels very despairing, as you 
may imagine. " Who hath made us to differ ?" 
* * * We are well. Do write soon and tell us 
all that interests you. Please present love to 
Mary. With the most sincere wishes for your 
health and happiness, believe me, dear E., 
" Your truly attached friend, 

" Margaret." 

" ' Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of 
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.' Accept 
Mr. Everts' kind regards. — M." 

Another letter fills out the picture of 
her new home : 



i/^ Cfiristian Womanfiood. 

" New York, January 14, 1848. 
" My very dear E., — As these commencing 
words were penned, I felt my heart going out 
with each of them — testing their sincerity and 
convincing myself of the strength of my attach- 
ment to the friend of my youth. To one. who 
did not know us both, and was ignorant of our 
past history, these expressions might be called 
the language of flattery ; but to any who have 
followed us since our school-girl days, and have 
known our continued friendship, such protesta- 
tions would, I am sure, only be regarded as the 
natural gushings of affection. Have you been 
disposed to accuse me of neglect for not having 
answered your last favor sooner ? I have cer- 
tainly been practising self-denial in not replying ; 
but when your letter arrived, almost my whole 
leisure time was occupied in receiving calls 
(which, you know, the ladies here pay after 
New Year), and since, my husband has had 
some very particular writing for me to do, which 
I have just finished, as I took up this sheet. 
Thanks, many thanks, dear E., for your valua- 
ble presents. How kind and thoughtful you 
are. The only thing I regret is, that my obli- 
gations are increasing so rapidly that I shall 
never be able to cancel them. Please receive 
Mr. Everts' sincere acknowledgments, and our 
united wishes that you may enjoy, in every sense 
of the word, a 'happy New Year 1 — happy in 
yourself, being sensible of that well-spring of 
enjoyment which springs up within you to ever- 
lasting life ; happy in your relations to others, 



M. JT. JEJverts. 145 

that nothing may interrupt the delightful inter- 
course you have with loved relations and friends ; 
happy because, like your great Exemplar, you 
have been doing good. Your life, I sincerely 
hope, will be full of blessings, enjoyed and dis- 
pensed — ' Peace be with thee.' 

" But I must not forget to tell you something 
about New Year's day, as you have given so- 
pleasant an account of your happy Christmas. 
It is emphatically a great day here, quite novel 
to Philadelphians. Well, Saturday though it 
was, all necessary arrangements were made early ; 
the table, spread partially the night before, was 
surveyed for the last time, to see that all was 
properly done, and then children and all hurried 
to complete the arrangements of the toilet, for 
fear some visitor might mortify us by calling and 
find us not ready to receive him. Sisters 
N. and M. had been spending some days, in 
Philadelphia, and had not returned as we ex- 
pected, when lo ! about ten o'clock New Year's 
morning, who should stop at the door but brother 
C. and M. They had been a day and night 
coming on, in consequence of a dense fog. 
* * * * Mr. Harding, the editor of the " Courier 
and Enquirer," Philadelphia, spent two or three 
hours with us, professing to be highly enter- 
tained by what was passing before him. I was 
favored by the presence of several ladies, namely, 
Mrs. Wyckoff, Mrs. Everts, senior, Mrs. N. K. 
Everts, and Miss M. M. Everts, to assist in the 
business of entertaining. The day proved to be 
very pleasant in-doors, but just the reverse out. 

10 



146 



Christian W t o?nanhood. 



I am not quite confident about the number of 
calls, as I was secretary, and some times found 
it impossible to record the names, but have on 
my paper some hundred and forty. We must 
have had considerably over this, the ladies 
think. 

" Thus far I had progressed in this epistle, 
when I was obliged abruptly to stop, and have 
not been able to finish it until now, Monday, the 
17th instant. You speak of a case of suffering 
in your letter, and no doubt there are many of 
the class in your midst ; but imagine what it 
must be here. Case after case of thrilling in- 
terest comes to our notice, of persons that must 
be helped, or perish ; and just now sisters 
were in, having called at the City Hall this 
morning, where they learned that seven vessels 
have just arrived, filled with famine-stricken and 
sick immigrants, some of them having been sixty 
days out, and down in the hold of the vessel. 
The Lord have mercy, and incline the benevo- 
lent to bring relief, or what will become of these 
thousands. * * * * It is said that enough emi- 
grants arrive here annually to form a State. Is 
not this the missionary field of the world ; and 
ere it grows up to thorns, must we not be diligent 
in seeding it with God's truth. I was very much 
interested in listening yesterday to a discourse on 
Home Missions from the agent of the American 
Sunday School Union. This agency of the 
Sunday School, Home Missions and colporteurs 
are the hope of our country's evangelization. 
It is impossible for the destitution to be supplied 



M. M. Averts. 147 

by the ministry, as he showed by calculation 
that to do this, between three and four thousand 
ministers would annually have to be added to the 
present number ; while from all evangelical 
denominations put together, there are not (if I 
remember rightly) annually more than a thousand 
sent out. Let us pray for laborers to be raised 
up, and the means to be prospered for the Christ- 
ianizing of the destitute multitudes of our coun- 
try. No time is to be lost. If we tarry, the 
enemy will be possessing the ground. 

". But I must hasten. How is Mary ? Please 
give her my love and best wishes — wishes that 
end not with temporal things ; but I desire that 
she may be, above all things, blest in soul, and 
made an heir of God, a joint heir of Jesus Christ ; 
and may have united with her in the pursuit of 
life eternal, her husband and children. Oh, that 
they may be wise for eternity. I am glad that 
you, dear B., take so much comfort in doing 
good — this is certainly an evidence of your be- 
ing a child of God. May these evidences con- 
stantly increase until you arrive at the com- 
fortable assurance of your adoption. * * * * 
Adieu, dear Elizabeth. 

" Your true friend, 

" Margaret." 




IX. 

Shadow on the Health. 

11 "When" pain and anguiah wring the brow, 
A ministering angel thou !" 

jLTHOUGH possessing remark- 
able vigor, which was guarded 
with more than usual temper- 
ance, yet the pressure and variety 
of cares, seldom at once assumed, began 
to make serious ravages upon the health 
of Mr. Everts. Sleepless nights and weari- 
some days succeeded each other in alarming 
rapidity, and simple efforts at recreation 
served but as temporary relief. Thus 
he struggled through one year, with a 
short interval of partial health ; then, with 
his wife and family, he withdrew from the 
city for the summer of 1849, hoping, in the 
country's seclusion, to " knit up the raveled 
sleeve of care," and regain his lost strength. 



M. 1£. Everts* 149 

Yet even here, amidst quiet beauty, and 
simple, homely life, attended by his wife's 
assiduous and ingenious efforts to please 
and interest, the tired brain kept up a diz- 
zying round of thoughts and plans, and 
rest seemed unapproachable. His friends, 
now thoroughly alarmed, proposed his 
crossing the ocean, by sea air, the entire 
change of climate and scene, and the whole- 
some fatigues of travel, to regain health. 
They were not a rich church; but the 
generosity of a few provided the way, and 
urged him on ; and the city pastors, with 
rare friendliness, proposed to fill the pulpit 
in turn, if no better plan were devised. 
In that shattered condition of mind and 
body, Mr. E. could arouse to no active 
exertion, and his wife took upon herself 
all necessary arrangements for such a 
change. As it was decided that a perma- 
nent supply would better advance the 
church interests, she went from one min- 
ister to another in the city, among the 
deacons and responsible men of the chnrch, 
consulting and obtaining counsel ; then in 
correspondence asking advice and coopera- 



ij;o Christum Womanhood. 

tion. Meanwhile she completed his per- 
sonal preparations, made such plans for the 
family as set his mind at ease for the fu- 
ture, and bore her burden of anxiety and 
foreboding with an enforced cheerfulness 
and even demeanor that is astonishing to 
look back upon. The last thing was a visit 
to the artist's, to obtain a family group for 
the dear wanderer's cheer when far from 
them all ; and here the mother's face, sur- 
rounded by her rosy family, despite the 
smile that gave the constant curve to her 
lips, shows haggard and worn. 

In a letter to Mr. Everts' mother, to 
whom she would naturally turn for sympa- 
thy, she details the experience of this 
period : 

" New York, March 5, 1850. 

M Dear Mother, — Had any one told me when 
you left that months would elapse before I wrote 
to you, it would have seemed an utter impossi- 
bility ; and doubtless it would not- have been so 
long delayed, had not Martha been constantly 
writing, and keeping you posted up in all mat- 
ters that are transpiring. If it seemed proper, 
I could fill this sheet with details which would 
look, in even your eyes, as almost, if not quite, 



M. J£. averts. 151 

sufficient cause for my long silence ; but I has- 
ten to matters which will interest you more than 
apologies, hoping that your kind heart will ex- 
cuse what may have appeared like forgetfulness. 
Since we parted,' dear mother, I have had new 
experience. My dear husband's health began to 
fail seriously about the time of your leaving, 
although you know he had not been well for 
months before. His prostration was extremely 
painful, affecting so as to unfit him for any thing 
to which he had been accustomed, and depressing 
most sadly his spirits. I had for weeks, nay, 
months, to give myself almost entirely to him, 
sometimes reading until he was wearied ; some- 
times walking ; then talking and endeavoring to 
cheer him, so that he might not be left without 
entertainment ; and I can never bear to think of 
the time that he went without me to Saratoga, 
although we both thought him able to go unat- 
tended, when 1 supposed him to be gaining every 
day. While he was there, I visited my father's 
to see my sister Jane, who was supposed to be 
dangerously ill, and on returning, found him 
home, but not improved. You may imagine my 
disappointment. Autumn had arrived, when he 
had expected to be able to resume his duties ; 
but instead of doing so, I found him totally dis- 
couraged. When, at length, a voyage was pro- 
posed, he was completely unnerved, and, at first, 
could not endure the thought. As a last resort, 
his mind was bent upon going to Philadelphia, 
which proved to be a wise step, as he began to 
improve immediately. Thus you see my summer 



152 Christian Woman?iood \ 

and fall must have been one of great anxiety ; 
but I desire to bless the Lord with ray whole 
heart that he has dealt so kindly with him, and 
that his prospects are good for returning health. 
I have been thus particular, knowing that every 
thing in relation to your dear son is of the deep- 
est interest. The letter you receive with this 
will give you accounts of him subsequent to 
leaving this country ; it came by the last steam- 
er, along with one for the church and some for 
me. 

" But as you are desirous to know about 
church matters, I will give some account of our 
meeting, which lasted some seven weeks, if I 
mistake not. At first, though the preaching was 
faithful and pointed, the Spirit's convicting and 
converting influences were wanting, and few 
seemed inclined to inquire for salvation. At 
length Mr. Westcott thought that we must either 
stop our meetings or have a day of fasting and 
prayer. The latter course being decided on, the 
church came up well ; the lecture-room was well 
filled at our day-meeting ; brethren and sisters 
confessed to each other and to God ; all seemed 
humbled, in view of the low state of piety, and 
renewed their covenant with God. From that 
time a change was manifest ; inquirers multiplie'd, 
were converted ; others took their places, until 
some twenty-eight have followed their Lord in a 
public profession; while others remain, what 
number I can not say, who have not yet taken 

that step How good the Lord has been I 

Pray that the work may go on, and that many 



M. .2T. averts. 153 

more from the giddy multitude around may be 
brought in. mother ! I have felt such solici- 
tude for S. and M. What do you think of them ? 
What will become of them, unless the lethargy 
which is upon them be removed ? May the Lord 
arouse them before the slumber of death settles 
upon their souls." 

We give the following letters almost en- 
tire, as the journalizing record she kept for 
her husband will be the most faithful ac- 
count we could offer of her responsible, 
busy life during his absence ; and the nar- 
rative of the few weeks, all that we can 
command now from her pen, tells the story 
of the nine months : 

" Novembeb 5, 1849. 

11 My deae absent Husband, — Another week 
has sped, and admonishes me to send you another 
communication, as I am desirous of letting you 
hear from home once every week. Oh, if I 
could only know how you are, and how near to 
your place of destination ! 

" ' Would I could send my spirit o'er the deep, 
Would I could wing it like a bird to thee.' 

How soon would all that is uncertain become 
matter of information. 'Twill be two weeks to- 
morrow since you left, and it certainly seems 
10* 



154 



C7i?istia)i Jfoma?i7iood. 



like a month. If the captain's conjecture be 
correct, you will reach Havre by Saturday of 
this week. 1 fondly hope that you have derived 
all the benefit from a sea voyage that we have 
anticipated ; and that you will, together with 
vour dear companions, be prepared to enjoy all 
the varieties of the ever -changing scenery 
through which you may pass. I was glad to 
read in the " Havre Journal " to-day some re- 
marks in regard to the health of Paris. It was 
spoken of as being a remarkably salubrious city, 
and those visiting it, both English and Ameri- 
can, bore ample testimony to this fact. It must 
be a source of great consolation to you all, to 
know that so many prayers are constantly as- 
cending on your behalf. May the Lord hear and 
answer them all. It gives me pleasure to say to 
my dear husband that his family are well. *Sis is 
beginning to look herself again ; while the older 
daughters understand better the nature of your 
absence, she wants you to come back. This 
morning she said (half crying), ' Mamma write 
letter, papa come home,' and made some signifi- 
cant expression which I now forget. Her com- 
mand of language is, I think, rather remarkable. 
She talks about things being pandid (splendid), 
and says, is it not deppy (dreadful), etc. To-day 
she was lamenting over Aunt Anna's bird that 
died yesterday, and went about saying in the 
most pathetic tones : 'little birdie sing no more, 
bird is dying ; aint it a pity.' She is very interest- 
ing, but very difficult to govern. She is impul- 
sive and excitable in the extreme. Pray for me, 



M. 1C. JZverts. 1^5 

dearest one, that I may know how to discipline 
all our dear children. I feel my incompetency 
most painfully ; give me some hints that may 
serve to throw light on my path. * * * I 
left off in my narrative in my last letter at Mon- 
day : I will resume it, and begin with Tuesday 
evening. Attended lecture by Brother D. ; 
subject, Search the Scriptures. He did well — • 
too well, Brother J. thought, compared with his 
prayer, etc. ; but I did not see any evidence of 
plagiarism. His case came up on Wednesday 
evening, but was too late to be acted on, so has 
been postponed until another month. J. thinks 
badly of his having been so long at Newark 
without joining the Baptists, or even attending 
their church simply because he did not like the 
preaching. I hope the church will do right in 
the matter. He proposes to have the foreign 
field in view. The early part of the meeting 
was taken up with discussing the subject of a 
supply during your absence. . . . . After much 
talking, being greatly influenced by your opinion 
in the matter, they decided to pass a unanimous 
vote to invite Mr. B. to preach during your ab- 
sence. The members were told by Brother E., 
senior, that you would be better off, so far as 
dollars and cents are concerned, to accept the 
offer of the city pastors, but that you preferred 
a man who should be devoted to them. Wednes- 
day was also the anniversary of our Grand Ligne 
Mission. We had a good meeting. Mr. Tracy's 
remarks were very interesting. Your departure 
was noticed last week in the * Recorder ' very 



1^6 Ch?islia?i Womanhood. 

kindly, as you will see ; also, to-day, in the 
' Tribune.' that is, the fact is mentioned. As 
you will get the ' Recorder,' I will not tell - 

you its hews Accept love from sisters 

and brother, and many friends, besides kisses in 
profusion from children and myself. Papa's 
son is sweet as ever. Love to George and 
Charles. 

11 As turns the needle to the pole 
Forever with fidelity; 
So turns the magnet of my soul, 

"Where'er thou art, my love, to thee. 

" Your own devoted 

" Margaret." 

" November 26, 1849. 

11 My dearly loved Husband, — Here is Mon- 
day evening, and I am admonished by its return, 
that it is time to give you another news, as well 
as love letter. A steamer arrived yesterday, 
and I had the faint hope that it might be the 
bearer of a letter from your dear self ; but it is 
too soon, and I must be content to await another 
arrival. Oh, with what joy will I hail the arri- 
val of a sheet from you ! Yesterday I thought 
of you as spending a Sabbath on land, but could 
not place you at any point about which there 
could be any certainty. Yes. dearest, my spirit 
visits you often in your wanderings ; and was 
this the sphere to enjoy purely spiritual inter- 
course, we should frequently be communing with 
each other. I trust your health has been greatly 



M. J£. Uverts. 157 

improved by the voyage ; and now that you have, 
if prosperous gales have attended you, reached 
your sought-for haven, it affords us no little plea- 
sure to think of you as on terra Jirma, no long- 
er '* rocked in the cradle of the deep," But 
I must to my narrative, which was continued up 
to Monday last. On Tuesday, attended the lec- 
ture, which was very good, indeed; text, 'my 
soul followeth hard after thee, thy right hand up- 
holdeth me.' "Wednesday, took tea at Mr. Ezra 
Smith's, and had a very pleasant visit. Thurs- 
day evening, visited Evers' Panorama of New 
York, Brooklyn, etc. — a very fine painting and 
truthful delineation, which will, doubtless, be 
eagerly visited in Europe. Friday evening, 
went to prayer-meeting, and enjoyed it very 
much. Mr. E. was not present, having gone to 
Essex, Connecticut, to preach a trial sermon. 
Sabbath, we were supplied, very acceptably, in 
the morning by Mr. C, and in the evening by 
Mr. M. The latter took for his text the words 
'Being found in fashion a man, he humbled him- 
self, and became obedient unto death, even the 
death of the cross.' It was a very fine discourse, 
and I enjoyed it much ; but what an original he 
is in every thing. For instance, in giving out 
notices, he mentioned a meeting to be held this 
morning at the Tabernacle, to hear the recital 
of a, certain man's experience, who, some time 
ago, left the Catholics, and is now about joining 
the Grand Ligne Mission ; he said if the wife 
of the respected pastor of the church was pre- 
sent, she was particularly invited to be present, 



158 Christian Woma?i?iood. 

as she was known to take interest in that mis- 
sion, and exerted great influence in its behalf. 
I felt, as you'may suppose, very much mortified, 
to be thus singled out, but had to overlook it, as 
it wasifr. M. Accordingly, to-day, Mrs. Dea- 
con Main, E., little E., and myself, went to 
the meeting aforesaid, and a very interesting 
one it was too. Miss Jane Jones ( the name of 
the once Catholic nun), gave a most interesting 
account of her conversion. The Home Mission 
Society have at last unanimously agreed to take 
the mission in Canada under their patronage, but 
wish the ladies' associations still to keep on as 
usual. The dear children are well. E. and M. 
are studying geography, grammar, spelling, read- 
ing, arithmetic. I feel deeply the care of 
guiding them in right paths, and beg the pray- 
ers of my dear, inexpressibly dear husband, 
that wisdom from above may be granted. How 
your absence deepens the past conviction, that 
you fill every place in my heart, only subordinate 
to that higher love for our Heavenly Parent. No 
other human being does any thing towards filling 
the void your absence occasions. I live on the 
hope of seeing you, and count the rolling weeks, 
thinking that each one makes the number less. 
Dearest, let me hear often, regularly, if possible. 
Many inquiries are made for you, and the ques- 
tion 'have you heard from Brother Everts?' IJiave 
frequently had to answer in the negative. Have 
heard nothing from Philadelphia since I last 
wrote. Please give much love to the dear cou- 
sins. I hope you will have no difficulty in yield- 



M. K. JEJ verts. 159 

ing to each others' wishes, but will journey on, 
most fraternally and happily. Accept love from 
all — sisters, brother, friends — especially B., and 
many kisses from your little birds in their west- 
ern nest, and from your unchanging and loving 
mate, Margaret." 

" December 3, 1849. 

" My dear, too dear William. . . . . To- 
morrow will be six weeks since you left us. 
Just three, according to the papers, you were on 
the main. How great a blessing is the press ; 
thus far have we been relieved from suspense, 
without hearing a word from yourself. Dearest 
husband, enjoy your trip as much as possible, 
for I trust you will never have to leave me so 
long again. Do not think I am sorry you have 
gone ; oh no ! my judgment is satisfied of the 
wisdom of the step. I humbly trust that our 
heavenly Father designs it for his glory and 
your best good, and the thought of again behold- 
ing you, enjoying something like the health you 
did when we first met, buoys up my spirits, and 
makes our separation tolerable. There is so 
much of mercy mingled in our cup, that we 
should be deeply ungrateful not to bless the 
Lord for his tender compassion towards us. My 
letter last week closed with Tuesday evening. 
Wednesday evening was church meeting. I did 

not go, but Brother J. did Thursday 

was thanksgiving. Mr. E. preached. His text : 
* He hath not dealt so with any nation.' I took 
the three girls. Had a comfortable dinner, and 



160 Christian Womanfiood. 

spent the rest of the day at home. . . . Friday, 
M. and myself gave considerable part of the day 
to fixing a play-closet for the children. You 
know there is no room or closet which can be 
spared for this purpose, so I took some money 
their uncle J. gave them, and added some more 
to it, and purchased a nice closet to stand in the 
recess of the basement, underneath the clock. 
We carpeted it, papered it, and arranged a bed- 
room, parlor, kitchen, and made ottomans, a 
divan, put up a mantel piece, hung pictures, put 
in a small glass centre-table that T have had for 
years, etc. E. then purchased a Britannia 
tea-set, a clothes-horse, a little flat-iron and 
stand, two tables, and I added three chairs and 
four little dolls. It is a beautiful little affair, 
and will beguile many an otherwise tedious day. 
The children regularly learn their lessons, and 
are improving. They are much out in the open 
air, when it is pleasant, as I have put up a swing 
in the back yard, which affords them constant 
pleasure. Bub is just as good as he can be. 
You will be glad to know that Sis goes quietly 
to bed every night with the older children with- 
out any difficulty. We had some little trouble 
in breaking up her old habit. Friday evening 
attended prayer-meeting, which was interesting, 
though few were present, owing, probably, for 
one thing, to a farewell meeting of Dr. Cote and 

the Nun at the Olivet Street Church 

Sunday, Mr. E. gave us a good sermon from the 
words : ' I knew a man in Christ some fourteen 
years ago.' It was on the unspeakable glories 



M. JK. Uverls. 161 

of heaven. His subject for the evening an- 
nounced : ' Different degrees in heaven and hell.' 
The afternoon was communion. Suitable mention 
was made of your arrival at Havre to the church. 
All are anxious to hear from you. . . . Some of 
the Boston churches have cheering indications 
of revivals. The Lord graciously extend the 
work till our own city be shaken to its centre by 

the powerful operation of his Spirit We 

are all doing well, and all, from youngest to old- 
est, join in sending love. Little Sis asked me, 
as she went to bed, if papa was coming in the 
steamer next week. Kind regards from B. S. 
And now, dearest, I have told you all that you 
will not be likely to hear through other channels. 
Tell G-. and C. we wish very much to hear from 
them — how things seem in the old world. Give 
them much love. Please present my kind re- 
gards to Dr. D., if you. see him. May the Lord 
bless you in body and soul. Oh, to tell you how 
deeply I love you, and how I long for your 
society, is impossible. May heaven grant you a 
safe return prays your own true 

" Margaret." 

" December 11, 1849. 

" My dear Husband How rejoiced 

am I, to hear of your improved health ; how 
kind is our heavenly Father thus to favor 
you. But I am not without many fears that 
your habit of close observation will retard your 
recovery. Now you know that your difficulty 
is such that this kind of effort must be injurious. 
11 



162 C?irisHa?i Womanhood. 

You certainly ought to be content with seeing 
less, until your head gains strength : suppose 
your physical health is greatly improved, and 
your head continues feeble, the disproportion 
will be most painful. Your past experience is 
not going to do for you what I fondly hoped it 
would, if you begin thus early to do the very 
thing you have been at before. Be admonished. 
Do not write any thing except your letters for 
some time. Recreate — be lazy ; do not over-fa- 
tigue yourself with seeing. I shall feel that you 
are verily culpable, unless you curb yourself in 
the things I have mentioned. Promise me you 
will, for your own and our sakes. Do listen to 
my admonitions. Think of the weakness of last 
summer, and dread its return ; very little would 
bring it back ; let not present vigor deceive and 
mislead you. Pray about this, and beg restrain- 
ing and directing grace. I have been somewhat 
troubled with the old complaint of the teeth and 

face The Sewing Society met here last 

week, and although the meeting was not large, 
it was pleasant. To-morrow we meet at Mrs. 
Terry's. Thursday evening, Mr. N. called, and 
took us to hear Mr. Gough, the temperance lec- 
turer. It was deeply interesting : he is a re- 
markably natural orator, and one calculated to 
do much good in this cause. I wish you could 
hear him. To-night has been lecture evening; 
quite a number got around me to learn what I 
had heard about you. You will write occasion- 
ally to the church, will you not ? . . . . Nothing 
of special interest remains for me to tell about 



M. K. Averts. 163 

our church. Oh, that God would pour out his 
Spirit and convert souls. Is Dr. D. much en- 
couraged. I am very glad that you have met 
with him ; it must seem like old times for you to 
see his face. Give my warm regards to himself 
and wife. I hope you will find a pleasant travel- 
ing companion going south. But it is getting 
late, and I must stop writing. We all, children 
and servants, talk much about you, and I did 
intend letting them make their mark, at least, 
in a letter to you ; but as they are all nicely 
asleep, it can not be. "We are still in comfort- 
able health. The Lord be praised. Darling 
husband, good-night ; remember my admonitions 
and heed my warnings. May the Lord bless you 
a thousand-fold. I hope to get all your letters 
ere long. Good-bye, good-bye. Accept the 
love of all the family, and the undying attach- 
ment of your own 

" Margaret." 

" January 5, 1850. 

" Dearest and best Beloved, — : Your most 
welcome letter of the 12th reached me on the 
31st, and I should have replied before this time 
had not the opportunities for writing been 
abridged. It seems a long time since I wrote, 
Christmas night being the last, and for want of 
holding communion with your dear self, my spirits 
have suffered. How glad I am that you are en* 
joying yourself, and have so much improved in 
health. The Lord be praised for his great good- 
ness. You wish that I could enjoy sight-seeing 



164 Christian Womanhood. 

with you ; to have done so would have afforded me 
the most unfeigned pleasure, had the thing been 
possible ; but for us both to be away from our 
dear children and house would not be justifiable, 
perhaps, except in the extremest case. How 
glad shall I be to sit and listen to your accounts, 
and thus live over the scenes with you. I can 
see the propriety of what you say in relation to 
more minute descriptions, it might tax your 
head too much ; forbear when there is any such 
danger ; I had rather miss the enjoyments such 
accounts would give, than to have you suffer any 
injury in consequence. Remember that you 
have not written to the church ; do, immediately. 
.... I will now, as well as I am able, go back 
to the time where I left off my narative. The 
day following Christmas, M., A., and myself 
attended Sewing Society at Mr. R.'s. On the 
way home, stopped at Mr. B.'s. . . . Thursday, 
it was announced that the Hungarian exiles (the 
Governor of Couoion, his wife, sons, daugh- 
ter, and Mile. Jargello, who has made herself 
so famous in battle) would be in the City Hall 
to receive visitors. Being much interested in 
their late ineffectual struggles for liberty, M. and 
I desired much to see them. Mr. J. accompan- 
ied us, and we had the pleasure of taking them 

by the hand Sunday, Mr. W. preached 

from the words : * Ye ask and receive not, be- 
cause ye ask amiss.' An excellent practical 
sermon, and one calculated to do good. In the 
evening, our Sunday school held its anniversary. 
.... Monday, we were getting ready for New 



M. K. Averts. 165 

Year's ; but made little preparation. Wednes- 
day evening was chnrGh-meeting. M. and the 
children send love and kisses. Sarah wants 
you to be sure and visit her country, and her 
relations, also. 

" Sabbath evening, January 6. — I have re- 
served a little space to let you know the decision 
of the church to-day, about a series of meetings. 
It was voted very generally to hold them. To- 
morrow is to be religiously observed". This 
morning, the quarterly contribution was taken up, 
and Mr. "W. remarked that a liberal collection 
was requested, inasmuch as the church was doing 
as every church should do for their pastor in poor 
health — taking care of him, and were also at 
some additional expense in supplying the pulpit. 
The congregation this morning was large. The 
greatest interest was manifested by many, to-day, 
who enquired after you. They love you much, 
I feel well persuaded. This morning, the text 
was : ' Christ died for our sins.' 0, my dear 
husband, how great was that love ! how dread- 
ful the weight of sin that rested on his holy 
soul ! I blush when I think how little apprecia- 
tion I have of this work, and felt to-day a desire 
to consecrate myself afresh to him who causes 
me to hope. But such is the little confidence I 
have in myself, that I dared not promise, but 
prayed for quickening grace, and that I might be 
fastened so firmly to the throne of God as never 
again to conform so much to the world, and 
so little to Christ. I know you pray for your 
unworthy wife : pray on. I love to bear you 



166 Christian Womanhood. 

on my heart to the throne of grace ; there, by 
faith, we can meet and prefer our requests. The 
Lord grant us a precious revival — a great in- 
gathering of souls. Oh, how I shall prize you, 
if you live to return. I will try to wait patiently. 
Give me some idea, when you write, at what time 
I may expect you home. And now, dearest one, 
adieu. Little Sis asked me if I was sending 
kisses to papa in my letter. She said: 4 I send 
a hundred and five.' Bub has four teeth, and 
is getting several more, but is pretty well. 
Good-bye, darling; may heaven's choicest bless- 
ings descend and be with you. 

u Your devoted 

" Wife." 

She completes the story of these anxious, 
busy months, and sketches her husband's 
travels, in another letter : 

" April 5, 1850. 

_ " My Dear E., — Doubtless you have almost felt 
like reproaching me for my long silence, and I 
confess to considerable self-reproach when I 
think how many months have intervened since 
your departure. But really, my dear girl, the 
past winter has been one of such numerous and 
continual cares, as to furnish my only apology. 
"We have seldom had so much sickness ; first one 
child, and then another — Sis two or three times, 
and Willie as often. R. Griffith came to spend 
the day before New Year's with me, was 



M. JT. Uverls: 167 

taken very sick that night, and . obliged to re- 
main several days ; again she came, and stayed 
a few days, but was none of the time very well. 
Then I was sick a short time, myself ; and last, 
but not least, Samuel has been confined to the 
house most of the time, for five weeks ; is bet- 
ter, but not well. Mr. J. returned about the 
last of February, and has been quite an invalid 
ever since ; probably will never be well. For a 
month, I had Mr. ~W. (the minister who preached 
some eight or nine weeks for us,) in our family; 
so you see my hands have been full. In addition 
to this, our evening meetings lasted about seven 
weeks, which left me no leisure for writing, ex- 
cept to my dear husband, and what, besides, was 
absolutely necessary. These meetings, dearE., 
I should have been glad to have you attend. The 
truth was solemnly, plainly, and affectionately 
told, and some thirty or more persons, we trust, 
have been savingly converted. What a mercy 
that even such a number have been induced to 
turn unto God, with purpose of heart. ! what 
is not religion worth ! It is every thing ; how 
valuable, eternity will only enable us to compre- 
hend. In my own experience, I find much 
cause for unspeakable gratitude, that I have ever ' 
been permitted to embrace its blessed truths, 
and trust its consoling promises. Especially in 
the season of trial through which my Heavenly 
Father has seen fit to call me to pass, recently ; 
prostrating the health of one who is the light of 
life to my heart, and associated with all my pres- 
ent and future enjoyment in this world, have I 



168 Christian Womanhood. 

felt the value of that faith which reposes itself 
on God. Yes, dear E., I have found it sweet to 
trust a covenant-keeping God, and in every hour 
of anguish and perplexity, to seek his presence 
and pour out my soul before him, and then the 
peace, nay, joy, which followed such exercises, it 
has seldom before been my lot to enjoy. Oh, 
that my friend could feel this confidence, and 
could cast her cares on that kind and faithful 
Friend. Can you not do it, E. ? Do you still 
persist in declining offers of mercy and salvation 
which were never made to the angels who fell ? 
Do you not see how dishonoring to God is unbe- 
lief, in the face of so many and abundant prom- 
ises to those who will put their trust in his mercy 
and salvation ? Come in the simplicity of a 
child, forgetting all the past, the remembrance 
of which seems to be such a hindrance to your 
progress ; tell Him your sins, your fears, your 
difficulties ; seek his Spirit to guide you into all 
truth, and with the docility of Mary of old, sit 
at His feet and never more depart from his pres- 
ence. This is your privilege ; doubt not, ques- 
tion not, but with the desperation of a drowning 
man, seize the only object which is extended to 
save you. .... But I must hasten to tell you 
about Mr. Everts' journeyings. M. wrote about 
the time he was to leave Paris. This he did 
about the first of the year, having for his travel- 
ing companion, an Episcopal minister, by the 
name of Parkman, nephew of Dr. Parkman of 
Boston, whose name is so painfully associated in 
our minds. They passed through the extent of 



M. K. averts. 169 

France, stopping at its principal cities in their 
route, viewing with delight the magnificent 
scenery of its rivers, the fruitfulness of its vine- 
clad hills, and stood at last upon the shore washed 
by the waters of the Mediterranean. At Mar- 
seilles they took passage in a steamer for Civita 
Vecchia, the seaport of Rome, t ,uching in their 
voyage at Genoa, and passing the islands of Cor- 
sica and Elba, the former the birth-place of 
Napoleon, and the latter his prison. From 
Civita Vecchia they proceeded to Rome, where 
they remained about twelve days, busily em- 
ployed in making observations. The greatest 
objects of interest there, Mr. Everts says, are its 
churches, upon which much wealth and art have 
been lavished. These, and a few private galle- 
ries belonging to palaces, may be said to be its 
lions. Its classical associations, of course, to 
the scholar, make it a place intensely interest- 
ing ; its connection with the apostolic church and 
many of the early Christians invests it with in- 
creased interest. Now, however, it is the seat 
of the Papacy, and darkness, to a fearful extent, 
in this age of light, covers the people. Most of 
the churches have been built to commemorate 
some traditional fact, such as to preserve the 
identical staircase which the Saviour ascended 
in Pilate's palace, and which is now ascended 
only by the faithful on their knees. Another 
preserves the footprints of the Saviour on a mar- 
ble slab. One, the curb of the well upon which 
Jesus sat when he talked with the Samaritan 
woman. Another preserves the heads of two of 

11* 



lyo Christian Womanhood. 

the apostles in urns. One has in it a piece of 
the Saviour's cross ; another, the altar upon 
which Peter performed High Mass. But I must 
forbear, as time would fail to enter into details ; 
suffice it to say, these churches are most elabo- 
rately decorated, both here and in other Italian 
cities, such as Naples, Florence, etc. Some 
have altars of porphyry and alabaster, and are 
set with all manner of precious stones. Leaving 
Rome, they turned their faces south, and entered 
the Kingdom of Naples ; visited Herculaneum, 
Pompeii, and Vesuvius — saw an eruption of this 
mountain, which, occurring, as it did, on a dark 
evening, about half-past nine o'clock, presented 
a scene of awful sublimity, the heavens appear- 
ing to be on fire, and the mountain red, and 
sending forth its fiery flood. He had the good 
fortune to see the Pope and hear him perform 
Mass ; speaks of him as looking very much as we 
have been accustomed to see him in pictures. 
Leaving Naples, they proceeded to Leghorn, 
Florence, Pisa, Bologna, and a number of other 
places of great interest ; stopped at Venice, laid 
at anchor in its beautiful bay one delightful 
evening, and thence proceeded to Vienna, where 
Mr. Everts was when he last wrote. He ex- 
pected to go to London by the way of the Ger- 
man States, and anticipated being in England 
about the first of April. Until the time of the 
anniversaries in May, he intends visiting Scot- 
land, Ireland, and England, and as soon as the 
meetings close, purposes taking passage for 
America. His health is much improved, and he 



M. JT. J&verts. 171 

writes in good spirits, for which I trust I feel 
truly thankful. .... 

" Your sincere friend, 

" Margaret." 



Shadow and Sunshine. 

11 Patience and Sorrow strove* 
"Which should express her goodliest. You have seen 
Sunshine and rain at once — those happiest smiles, 
Seemed not to know what guests were in her eyes." 

jHE return, so anxiously awaited, 
1 occurred in the following June. 
Mr. Everts was certainly better ; 
and his wife, relieved of much 
of her long-borne burden, felt the tense 
life deserting her, and began to droop in 
utter bodily weakness. Yielding to the 
solicitations of her friend E., combined 
with her husband's urgent demands, she 
left home for a brief respite from care, and 
went to Hartford, Connecticut. From 




X n 2 Christian Womanliood. 

there she writes to her hushand, betraying 
the anxieties of the fond wife and mother: 

"July 22, 1850. 
"My Dear Husband,— Your expected and 
welcome letter I found at the post office, on Sat- 
urday, which, you may imagine, I read and re- 
read with lively interest. Thanks to our 
Heavenly Friend and Protector, that you all 
have been preserved. I was so delighted to 
hear you say you had "risen after having a re- 
freshing night's sleep." This, I hope, has been 
the kind of rest you have had each night since 
I have been away. But how does dear little 
Willie fare, in this particular? Has he become 
accustomed to the change? Dear child ; I should 
much regret his spending such uneasy nights 
during my absence. Does little darling Margaret 
seem°tobe enjoying herself ? or does she miss 
her mother ? Give them kisses without number, 
and tell them mother thanks them for the dear 
kisses they sent her. Have you heard 
any thing from Fair Haven ? Has that letter 
been finished and sent ? The children will be 
anxious to hear from home, I know. Do write 
to them and relieve their suspense ; my anxieties 
are great that their visit should be pleasant and 
profitable, to mind and body ; their age, dearest, 
is an important and critical one ; their characters 
are fast moulding and receiving the impression 
which is to characterize them through life. Do 
we sufficiently realize it ? I trust when they 



M. JT. averts. 173 

return, wisdom and grace will be given us to dis- 
charge well our duty. 

Now for a few words about myself. I am 
very well ; quite recovered from the difficulty 
under which I was laboring, and have been en- 
joying myself very much Hartford is a 

lovely place — more so than I thought when I 
was here before. There is much wealth, and a 
large share of talent, in the Pulpit, at the Bar, 

and in Medicine, as I have been told 

Yesterday morning we went to hear Mr. Mur- 
dock. His house is a very neat and pleasant 
one, in good taste and repair, has an organ and 
good choir, and is located in a very pleasant part 

of the city Mr. Bushnell being absent, 

we went in the afternoon to hear the venerable 
Dr. Beecher, who preached for Dr. Haws. His 
text was, " The fool hath said in his heart," etc. 
This he tried to prove from the practice and con- 
duct of mankind, since the deluge to this time, 
and then showed the folly of it by its destroying, 
at the same time, all evidence that man was any 
more than animal, subject to material laws, with- 
out being an accountable being, because not a 
free agent ; blotting out heaven ; making death 
an eternal sleep, and making all things around 
us, bearing such wonderful marks of design, to 
be without a designer, the result ^of nature's 
operations. The sermon displayed a vigor of 
mind quite remarkable for one of his years, 
although some of his friends say he is but a 
shadow of his former self. This week is quite 
an interesting one here ; the exercises connected 



*74 



Christian Womanhood. 



with the commencement of Trinity College, 
take place. Are you coming on ? I think you 
would be much pleased to spend a few days here. 
"Write immediately and tell me to look for 
you." .... 

About this time she speaks of personal 
and family sickness : 

" I was taken sick in the night on Sabbath 
last with something like cholera morbus, and 
have been confined to my bed, and feeble, since 
that time, until to-day is the first that I have 

felt able to resume my pen While I was 

absent, darling Willie was taken sick with sum- 
mer complaint, caused by teething, and when I 
arrived, I found him quite sick ; he got worse 
and worse, until we feared we should lose him. 
Oh, M., what a struggle was that to bow in sub- 
mission to the Divine will, and say : ' Thy will 
be done.' But I trust that, notwithstanding his 
critical situation revealed the depth of my love 
for him, I could commit him, and every other 
dear object, into my heavenly Father's hands, 
and felt a quiet comfort that all would be well. 
But our dear boy still lives, and blessed be His 
adorable name for such goodness ; and although 
not well yet, was able, we thought, to come 
here. The journey was very fatiguing, and none 
of us have been very well since ; but he is bet- 
ter, I hope, to-day, and will now got along, if 
nothing pulls him back." 



M. JT. Uverls. 175 

Under date January 19, 1849, again she 
writes : 

" Deae M'., — I have feared, a number of times, 
that you would think I had little regard for my 
word, as the last thing, almost, at. parting, was 
the promise that I would write you as soon as I 
could after reaching home. Now, before going 
farther, let me beg you to excuse me, and believe 
me that my time for correspondence is exceed- 
ingly limited. Half of my time, nearly, while 
mother was absent, was spent in writing for 
your brother, since which time we have had an 
unusual amount of sickness ; first, myself, then 
your brother, then each of the children in turn, 
and, last of all, mother has had a very severe 
cold, from which, however, she is now recover- 
ing You have not heard, I think, of 

Miss S.'s recent generous donation, intended as 
New Year's present to the Swiss Mission, 
namely, one hundred dollars, in addition to what 
mother mentioned she had done, while here some 
weeks ago. I have not yet received it, but am 
daily expecting the amount from Philadelphia. 
This intelligence will be particularly gratifying 
to sister J. and Mr. A. How wonderfully the 
Lord can raise up friends for his cause ! Ma- 
dame Feller and Dr. Cote spent an evening with 
us while Elizabeth was here, which augmented 
her interest very much. She, with many others, 
venerates the character of her who has been 
styled by Mrs. Hale ' the heroine of the nine- 
teenth century.' 



iy6 Christian Woman?iood . 

But, as the summer and fall wore away, 
the conviction that Mr. Everts needed a 
permanent change from the intense life of 
New York City grew to be certainty ; not 
only in the minds of himself and wife, as 
they were as'sured by their medical adviser, 
but the church recognized the fact, as they 
saw the immediate freshness travel and 
rest had lent giving way to something of 
the former languor and weariness. It was 
soon decided that a removal must be made 
from city activity to country quiet ; and 
although some proposed an entire cessation 
of ministerial duties, after due deliberation, 
a call was accepted to the pastorate of the 
Wheatland Church, in Monroe County, of 
the same State. 

So, with tearful farewells, the New York 
home was broken up, many tender ties 
separated that bound the hearts of the 
church to these two, who had proved their 
love by years of faithful devotion. But 
warm friendships then cemented, time has 
only strengthened; and the virtues of that 
pastor's wife still live in the hearts of many 
to whom her beautiful life endeared her. 



M. JT. Uverls. 177 

The following testimony to Mrs. E.'s 
character is the more interesting, as Dr. 
WyckofF, the writer, was for years an in- 
mate of their home : 

11 My deae Brother, — With sorrowing hearts 
we have just learned of your deep affliction. My 
grief could scarcely be deeper if an own sister 
had suddenly deceased. Your dear wife was 
greatly beloved and admired by all our family. 
.... Mrs. Everts was distinguished for a keen 
sense of the proprieties of life. She was a 
model daughter, sister, wife, and mother. Gifted 
in music, her soul was attuned to harmony. 
Sanctified by grace, her spirit breathed love. 

" In the church, and in the world, she was 
always doing good. Humble, devout, and be- 
nevolent, she sought not her own, but the things 
that are Christ's. For these she labored with a 
zeal unaffected, and a success almost unexam- 
pled. 

" In her home she was the presiding angel. 
With warm affections and quick sensibilities she 
united a patience and cheerfulness, which ren- 
dered her the light of the house. Firm in prin- 
ciple and kind in manner, she maintained order 
as much by love as by authority. Always oblig- 
ing and seeking the welfare of others, she made 
every one happy around her. It was a great 
privilege to enjoy her presence in the social cir- 
cle. It was one far greater to share the comforts 
of her happy home. 

12 



178 Christian Womanhood, 

The following lines, addressed to her, 
we doubt not, expressed the feeling of 
many other friends she left behind : 

TO MARGARET. 

Td strew thy path with flowers fair, 

That breathe sweet odors round; 
And not one thorny shrub should e'er 

Upon thy path be found. 

I'd circle thee with joys as bright 

As summer's golden day, 
While hope, on glittering wings of light, 

Should hover o'er thy way. 

Truth should her radiant halo fling 

About thy placid brow, 
While peace should pearly treasures bring, 

And love before thee bow. 

Thus life should be one sunny day 

That knows not of decline; 
The hopes, the joys, the vision gay, 

Should be forever thine. 

Alas, dear friend, 'tis all a dream, 

Though witching fair it be, 
These treasures are not what they seom, 

Nor fitting gifts for thee. 

I'll cast the magic wand away, 

Fling off the siren's guise, 
And bid the pen of truth portray 

The things I'd have thee prize. 



M. 1C. JEJverts. 179 



And what I trace, I pray may be 

Forever, ever thine: 
A pure, a blest eternity, 

And joy that's all divinei 

July 19, 1848. 



Cornelia. 



XL 

The Country Home, 

"And the land was wide and quiet." 

J|HEATLA.^TD, as its name indi- 
ly[J cates, is a rural centre of pros- 
Mil P erous fertility. The township 
proper is distant from Rochester 
pome fifteen miles, and is but a succession 
of large and finely cultivated farming 
estates, whose beauty of situation, as well 
as richness of soil, combine to give it a 
notoriety even in New 'York State, justly 
distinguished for her beautiful rural dis- 
tricts. The Baptist Church here, long es- 
tablished, comprised much of the wealth 




180 CfirisHan WomanJwod '. 

and social position of the surrounding 
country, and enough of shining evangelical 
piety to give it a well-known name in the 
denomination. Mr. Everts' connection with 
this church is sufficiently note-worthy in 
itself, as a remarkable chapter in religious 
progress, also, is so intimately involved 
with Mrs. E.'s life, that we must pause to 
give some side details. 

To a stranger, the location of the church 
seemed singularly inappropriate. The tide 
of subsequent settlement had drifted off to 
either side, where growing villages had 
sprung up, unprovided with places of wor- 
ship, while the meeting-house stood appa- 
rent guardian of the city of the dead that 
lay under its shadow, the few adjacent 
houses hardly relieving the spot from its 
solitary character. 

A few months after Mr. E.'s coming, he 
spent part of a week, including the Sab- 
bath, with some friends in Churchville, the 
largest of the neighboring villages. Here 
he found a handful, principally holding 
membership with the Wheatland Church, 
who were waiting some outside impulse. 



M. J£. JEJverts. 181 

A few vigorous measures of meeting, soli- 
citation and subscription so won on the 
sympathies of the community, that it was - 
but a few months before Mr. Everts was 
sent for to assist, with others, in the dedi- 
cation of a chapel, complete in its appoint- 
ments of taste and convenience. 

The success of this enterprise served as 
inspiration to other of the distant mem- 
bers. In Clifton, where for years they had 
held occasional meetings in the school- 
house, with the advice and cooperation of 
their pastor, they increased their appoint- 
ments, and maintained them regularly. 
Later, they opened a subscription-list, for 
the erection of a Baptist church, which 
was quickly filled, their house built; and 
before Mr. E. left Wheatland, they organ- 
ized a church body, whose regular congre- 
gations, 'Sunday school and prayer-meeting 
attendance soon arose to an average equal- 
ing the old church. 

Meanwhile, the village of Mumford, but 
three miles on the other side of the Wheat- 
land Church, and within sight of the resi- 
dences of some of its principal members, 



182 Christian Womanhood. 

numbering some four hundred in popula- 
tion, remained a missionary field, destitute 
of a church. During the second summer 
of Mr. E.'s pastorate in that region, after 
numerous occasional appointments, he 
commenced a regular Sunday afternoon 
service in Mumford. These meetings 
grew in numbers and interest, and in the 
autumn they held protracted meetings, 
which resulted in the conversion and bap- 
tism of forty persons. Church organization 
followed, and then the building of a chapel 
equal in beauty and fitness to its neighbor- 
ing predecessors, which Mr. E. was called 
upon, as its spiritual father, to dedicate, 
even after he had left the State for another 
field of labor. 

So note-worthy was Mr. E.'s work whilst 
in New York, and now in Wheatland, that 
a correspondent of the "New York Re- 
corder " (now " Examiner and Chronicle ") 
on Church Extension writes : " Some of 
your ' readers will remember the inde- 
fatigable efforts, in years gone by, of our 
old friend, Rev. W. W. Everts, late of 
New York, now of Wheatland, when in 



M. JT. Averts. 183 

the meetings of the Hudson River Asso- 
ciation, he stood up, year after year, to 
urge upon his brethren the necessity of 
cultivating the destitute fields in our im- 
mediate vicinity. And now that he is 
removed to another association, it must 
be gratifying for him to know that the 
work for which he had so long toiled 
has been at length commenced in a man- 
ner that warrants us in looking forward to 

great and glorious results I was 

gratified to learn that the same spirit of 
domestic missionary enterprise which ani- 
mated him while in the bounds of our As- 
sociation, has been actively developed in 
the Monroe Association, with which he is 
now connected." 

Also, the Committee of the Monroe 
Baptist Association, within whose bounds 
this work had been inaugurated, at their 
regular meeting with the Sweden Church, 
" Hesolved, That, in the opinion of this 
Committee, the measures recently adopted 
by Rev. W. W. Everts, upon the field of 
his own pastoral labor, are highly impor- 
tant in their bearing upon the general 



184 Christian Woma?ihood. 

objects proposed in our present organiza- 
tion.* That we pledge Brother Everts our 
cordial fellowship in this work, and assure 
him of our confidence in the wisdom of the 
steps so far taken." 

This work was not accomplished with- 
out much exertion on the part of Mr. E., in 
encountering the opposition of the jealous, 
the fears of the timid, in urging those un- 
accustomed to give, to a generous support 
of these young interests, and in assuming 
responsibilities that none other could take. 
But with these cares he enjoyed the free- 
dom of his new life, riding and driving 
through the lovely country, the cultivation 
of a garden, and the care of domestic ani- 
mals ; these wholesome recreations so mit- 
igated the pressure of brain-work, that, 
though life was never busier, yet healthful 
rest and appetite came back, and much of 
youthful vigor. But with Mrs. E., the 
change of home and life was but a change 
for more wearing cares; and she who 
needed so much of relaxation and recupe- 
ration was called upon to pass through 



some of the most trying experiences of her 
life. 

They came to their new home in early 
winter, riding the six miles from the near- 
est railroad station in a chill December 
rain, over a country robbed of its verdure, 
yet wearing no brilliant wintry charms, 
and without a prospect of home at the end 
of the journey. The parsonage was only 
in process of building, and for the winter, 
the family were divided among the people, 
as they could be best accommodated. 

Although never betraying morbid sensi- 
tiveness, Mrs. Everts possessed the keenest 
sensibilities, and the necessary division 
of her family, the enforced acceptance 
of a temporary home among strangers, 
however kindly proffered, was a severe 
trial. Even the minor changes of her lot 
would have proved intolerable burdens to 
most women. The breakfast hour in a 
farmer's household, occurring long before 
city people of moderate habits rise, necessi- 
tated very early rising for the mother, now 
having the sole charge of her little chil- 
dren ; and with the severe winter, the un- 
12* 



186 Christian WomanJiood. 

accustomed seclusion from out-door life — 
all told seriously upon the health and 
spirits which more than ever needed every 
thing propitious. But the secret hours of 
despondency and solitary tears were never 
known until afterward. She was the angel 
of hope to her family ; and the elder chil- 
dren well remember, in visiting their 
mother, how she cheered their home-sick- 
ness, repressed their murmurs, and made 
the future so bright with the prospect of 
home, that the present caught some glow 
from her hopeful spirit. In a short note 
to a friend in New York, and a longer 
epistle to Miss S., she gives her impressions 
of the place and people, mingled with 
expressions of regret for the friends left 
behind, and pleasant plans for the future. 

" Dear Mrs. P., — As Mr. Everts has left a 
page, I thought I must add a few lines to your- 
self. How have you all been since we left? 
"With us the winter has been unusually stormy, 
and we see by the papers that you have not es- 
caped. For the first part of the time we were 
here, we visited about some ; but as the weather 
became very cold, we gladly settled down at one 
of the deacons of the church, where we find our- 



M. K. Uverts. 187 

selves very comfortable ; they are exceedingly 
kind, and do all in their power to make us hap- 
• py. I am much pleased with the people here, so 
far as I have become acquainted. There are 
many sterling female as well as male members 
of the church. The process of getting acquaint- 
ed is rather slow, on account of the distance at 
which the people live apart. The good sleigh- 
ing has given us a fine opportunity to get around, 
and we have improved it considerably. The 
change from city to country is a very great one ; 
but I resolved to be contented when I came, be- 
cause the path of duty seemed very plain, and 
thus far I have been so, although my heart often 
travels back to the dearly loved friends we have 
left behind. As you see those we call our friends, 
please remember us affectionately to them. Give 
the children's love to your little girls, and say 
that we shall expect to see them when we go to 
housekeeping. But my paper admonishes me to 
close. May the Lord bless you, dear friend, re- 
ward you for all your goodness to us, and give 
you a good hope through grace of eternal life. 
" Yours, most sincerely, 

"M. K. Everts." 

"March 17, 1851. 

"My Dear E.,- — After leaving my beloved 
parent and friends in Philadelphia, we bent our 
faces again towards New York, which had been 
so long to us a pleasant home, but which we were 
destined so soon to leave. Homeless,* but not 



i88 Christian Womanhood. 

friendless, we took up our abode, for a few days, 
at a good friend's house, who had arranged with 
us so to do before leaving, and from there made 
our visits, and arranged our affairs so as to leave 
at the close of November. You may depend that 
it was no small trial to give the parting hand to 
so many, who had, by long intercourse, so much 
endeared themselves to us. Through such scenes 
it is not often desirable to pass. Our nerves 
were sorely tried, and we found it an actual re- 
lief to be on board of a steamer, having no more 
adieus to pronounce, and no more call for tears, 
except as remembrance would bedew our eyes, 
as, with the vividness of reality, it would recall 
scenes and friends, which were fast fading from 
our vision. We received many valuable testi- 
monials of affection before leaving, which were 
prized, not more for their intrinsic merit, than 
for the kind feeling which induced the gifts. Our 
situation at present is widely different from the 
one we occupied in New York. Instead of the 
bustling and excited multitude, the din of busi- 
ness, the long lines of stores, and the innumera- 
ble vehicles that roll along the streets, we now 
look out upon a beautiful undulating country, 
with highly cultivated farms stretching away in 
every direction, the husbandman quietly giving 
directions about his flocks and herds, and seeing 
that all things are properly attended to in barn 
and field. Calmness and deliberation are written 
upon every brow, and as perfect freedom from all 
that is exciting as you can imagine. 'Tis true 
all have enough to do, and more than enough ; 



M. K. Uverts. 189 

but you do not see the hurry that all are accus- 
tomed to in New York. 

" "We have been obliged to board this winter, 
and are still doing so, as the parsonage is not 
finished, and will not be, probably, for some 
weeks, and perhaps months, to come. Unfortu- 
nately, the trustees contracted with a man who 
has proved to be void of honor, and who has given 
them much trouble, besides delaying the finishing 
of the house. It is the more unpleasant, inas- 
much as there is no boarding-house here, and we 
are obliged to board in private families and those 
who do not desire to take boarders, but merely 
do so to accommodate us. Our garden, house, 
etc., will, I fear, not be fixed, in all respects, as 
we wish to have it, for some time yet. I had 
intended writing for you and Anna to come early 
and spend the summer with us ; but my plans 
are, thus far, frustrated. We are much pleased 
with the church here. The people are of a high 
order in morals, intelligence, benevolence, and 
refinement, for an agricultural community. "We 
have visited a large number of families this win- 
ter. Have had sleighing for many weeks, and I 
never rode so much in my life. I think you 
will enjoy visiting me here. Mr. E. has pur- 
chased a fine horse, and we expect, as soon as 
navigation opens, to have a comfortable carriage 

sent from New York .Before closing, I 

would ask, is it well with thee spiritually, dear 
E.? Leave the solution of all difficult doctrinal 
questions ; forget the things that are behind, 
which have caused you so much trouble, and bring 



190 



Christian Womanhood. 



yourself to the simple terms of the Gospel, and 
with an humble, penitent, and trustful heart cast 
yourself upon the grace and mercy of God, that 
are treasured up in Christ Jesus. May the Lord 
guide you and give you a good hope in him. 
" Your ever faithful 

" Friend." 



xn. 

Busy and Anxious Days. 

11 The hours are flying ; 
Each one some treasure takes, 
Each one some blossom breaks ; 

The hours fly fast ; 
"With each some sorrow dies, 
With each some shadow flies. " 

|N the spring, the parsonage was 
finished, but before the workmen 
had left, in their longing for a 
■ home, the family came together in 
the new house. It was sunset before the 
kind-hearted people left, who, with baskets 
of eggs, pans of milk, custard pies, huge 




M. X, Uverts. 191 

loaves of bread and rolls of butter, had 
loaded the pantry shelves; and the family 
well remember the blissful sense of union, 
while the tearful, happy mother moved 
around, giving the home-look to every 
thing she touched, expressing such abso- 
lute content and gratitude in look and 
speech, as to impress the time upon the 
children, as one of the fairest of life-long 
memories. 

She was severely taxed, during this sum- 
mer, by the want of efficient help in her 
family, but entertained much company, 
and never gave up to the rest so necessary. 
Late in the summer, her youngest child 
was born, and now nature refused to rise ; 
from weakness, she sank into serious illness, 
until the doctors gave her up to die, when, 
as a last alternative, the family physician 
was summoned from New York. A few 
days of terrible suspense ensued, but the 
crisis past, and she was given back to life, 
as it seemed, only snatched from death by 
loving care. The long convalescence over, 
and she restored to almost her usual health, 
some signs of a most malignant disease 



192 Christian Womanhood. 

made their appearance, and her alarmed 
friends advised that she be put under med- 
ical treatment at once. For this purpose 
she spent some time in New York, during 
the fall, and the danger was averted, as the 
physician maintained, only as a result of 
her temperate habit of life, and her equable 
disposition. 

Of her life here, we can give little ade- 
quate idea by detailing any specific work. 
We can only tell of her surroundings ; her 
part was the indirect agency, potent, but 
often unrecognized. During her husband's 
enlargement of church duties, she was at 
once his unerring counsellor and faithful 
friend. She entered into all his plans 
with enthusiasm, supplementing his labors 
by her social tact. Notwithstanding her 
unfavorable circumstances for making or 
perfecting acquaintance, her unaffected love- 
liness won the sincere esteem of the people, 
as was proved by many testimonials of affec- 
tion, from young and old. She made the 
parsonage attractive by her ever ready, 
welcome, and unusual powers of entertain- 
ment. Her piano was more of a novelty 



M. JS~. Uverls. 



193 



than in her city home, and with it she was 
always ready to entertain, either the chil- 
dren who came home from school with her 
own, the young ladies who dropped in for 
an afternoon call, or the deacon and his 
wife who stopped on the way to prayer- 
meeting. It is a family memory that their 
mother's music was never denied, even to 
the youngest, under any plea of fatigue or 
stress of occupation. A letter written to 
Chicago, in detailing the work among the 
churches, betrays Mrs. Everts' co-operative 
interest : 

"March 2, 1852. 

My Deae Brother, — "When you wrote us 
from Rochester, I meant to reply as soon as my 
head would permit, to vent my disappointed feel- 
ings, if no more ; but Mr. Everts has been pre- 
paring another volume for the press, which has 
taken all my time, which could have been spared 
for writing. My long sickness left my head so 
extremely weak as to make it unpleasant and 
painful for me to confine my attention long 
enough to write a letter. Since then, I have 
had two attacks during the winter, which, al- 
though of short continuance, increased the diffi- 
culty I have named, and it has been as much as 
I could do to assist Mr. E. as seemed necessary. 

13 



i 9 4 



Christian Womanhood. 



I must give a little account 

of what Mr. Everts has been doing these months 
past. The Wheatland church meeting-house is 
situated in the country, and the church is scat- 
tered over a territory of twelve miles extent. 
North and south of us, about two and a half 
miles each way, are two villages, neither of 
which has had any more than an occasional ser- 
mon, one of them destitute of any place to hold 
a meeting, the other only a very inferior sort of 
a building. Ever since we came, Mr. E. has 
felt much for these places, and determined that 
something should be done. He first proposed to 
the church to have one of the Sabbath services 
at these villages, but as they did not wish to give 
up one of the meetings at the centre, they 
concluded to engage a student from Rochester to 
assist Mr. E. in supplying the destitution, so 
that they have had regular preaching every 
Sabbath. The interest increased so much at 
these points, that the want of meeting-houses 
began to be felt, and Mr. E. has been engaged 
in raising funds for both these places, which now 
amount in one, to some $2,500, and in the other 
to some $1,800 and a lot. In addition to these, 
we had members living at a village some six 
miles off, who, with other Baptists in the neigh- 
borhood, have been encouraged to form a new 
church, and they have now some $2,200 sub- 
scribed ; so that now proposals are out for three 
Baptist meeting-houses. This has involved 
much labor and some opposition. In one of 
these places, other denominations have become, 



M. £?. averts. 195 

of late, very jealous, and endeavored to thwart 
us in every way ; had Mr. Everts not done 
the thing up so quickly, they might have circum- 
vented us. But we think it is too late for their 
opposition to amount to much. Notwithstand- 
ing all this extra labor, my dear husband's health 
is better than it has been for years. He has 
been instrumental in arousing the Baptists of the 
county to the work of home missions in our 
own field, and feels that his coming has been 
productive of some good. "Whether he will con- 
tinue here long, is uncertain ; some of his friends 
think he should not, if his health is entirely con- 
firmed. But this he leaves to an overruling 
Providence. We have been comfortable here, and 
it is a very desirable place, for the country." 

But while the prosperity of the new in- 
terests was matter of rejoicing with the 
pastor and some of his members, among 
others more conservative or timid, and 
others, perhaps, less spiritually minded, it 
only served to feed a growing jealousy of 
the young churches, whom they deemed 
rivals, and murmurs became louder and 
more frequent, as they prophesied the in- 
evitable loss of influence and position to 
the Wheatland church. Notwithstanding 
these signs of discontent, Mr. Everts bore 
with the unpleasantness of his situation for 



196 Christian }Voman?iood. 

the sake of Clifton and Mnmford ; nor 
would he peril their future by leaving, until 
the way was clear before them. In the sum- 
mer of 1852, invited to visit another new 
church, with view to settlement, he re- 
fused, and Mrs. E., in a private letter, ex- 
plains their reasons for remaining : 

■•Wheatland. July 27. 1852. 

u My Dear Brother. — Your letter, as well as 
Mr. Watkinson's, and that of the church, has 
been received. Mr. Everts was much gratified 
with the confidence and interest in him. breathed 
in them all. and delayed answering, in order to 
ascertain, if possible, the mind of the Great 
Head of the church, in reference to the matter. 
He first thought favorably of visiting Chicago, 
especially as he could, at the same time, see you 
and our cousins, whose presence, by the by, 
would be a great inducement to go there. But 
upon reflection, he felt that it would not be well 
to pay a visit unless there was pretty good 
reason to think he would go. Now. upon look- 
ing over his present field, he feels that he could 
not leave for. perhaps, months to come, and how 
many. Providence only can determine, without 
jeopardizing the cause in two neighboring vil- 
lages, where he has been laboring most assidu- 
ously to get meeting-houses built, and which are 
at present in process of erection. No one could 
take his place, as no one would know just how 



M. K. Uverts. 197 

matters stood. This would prevent his chang- 
ing to go any where for the present, however 
desirable the place might be. He has written 
to the church, of which you have doubtless 
heard. This matter of changing church rela- 
tions, dear brother, is a serious thing — how im- 
portant the pillar of cloud should go before. 
Chicago must be a very thriving and enter- 
prising city — a most important point of in- 
fluence to the whole West. The churches 
should make an impression corresponding with 
their position, and thus, in its early history, 
throw salt into the fountain that will exert a 
purifying and saving influence through the whole 
course of its progress. Shall it ever be our 
privilege to inhabit the same spot of earth 
again ? Would it not seem like home days ? In 
fancy, I can imagine just how you are situated 
in your abode. Do you play on the melodeon ? 
When did you learn ? Your room must be quite 
attractive ; how I should love to peep in and see 
you. It delights me very much to know that 
you are so highly regarded by * * * * Oh, 
my dear brother ; to act in the world, and among 
worldly men, as Christians, to carry our religion 
with us in all our transactions, so as to compel 
the respect of the ungodly, is a great matter. 
Thus may you ever walk and be regarded." . . . 

A letter of later date upon the same 
subject, proves Mrs. E.'s identity with her 
husband's spirit and interests, and reiter- 
ates her deprecation of changes : 



198 



Christian Womanhood. 



" Wheatland, August 3, 1852. 



"My Dear Brother, — Your letter, and also 
one from Mr. V., have just been received this 
evening. I am extremely sorry that Mr. Everts' 
absence will render a reply impossible on his 
part. He has gone with a company from New 
York city, on a trip to the White Mountains, N. 
H., and will not, probably, be home until Thurs- 
day week. I think the church misunderstood a 
clause in his letter, where he speaks of object- 
ing to take any public step where there was not 
some anterior probability of consummating the 
relation of pastor and people. He did not mean 
where there was not a probability or a certainty 
of the church extending a call, but of his ac- 
cepting the invitation. He could not, upon such 
an invitation as has been extended to him from 
the Chicago church, consent to visit them, 
unless his mind was pretty well made up to 
accept the call, if given. He does not consider 
it fair dealing to act otherwise. As I told you 
in a letter which you probably have received 
before this, Mr. Everts has many things in 
train here, very important, which might be sac- 
rificed by his leaving too soon. We would great- 
ly enjoy being in the same church with you and 
our cousins, and, should d'lty point that way, 
would cheerfully go ; but it is so serious a mat- 
ter to ascertain what duty is in every case ; poor 
human nature is affected and biased by so many 
considerations, that I deprecate changes very 
much." 



M. K. averts. 199 

But within the next two months, affairs 
which had been slowly working into shape, 
assumed proportion, and with a rapidity 
that could not have been expected. The 
people at Clifton effected church organiza- 
tion, from it gaining prestige that gave 
them strength and courage. The Mum- 
ford church received large subscriptions 
for their intended chapel, and the work 
was well commenced, while the large fruits 
of their revival gave them numerical pow- 
er. Now, Mr. E. felt that his work was 
done ; that some stranger, untrammeled by 
prejudice, could better go on with a future 
of assured prosperity, and as interpretation 
of the thought, came a call from the 
Walnut St. church in Louisville, Ky. 
Both the new churches sought by every 
inducement of affection and interest to de- 
tain Mr. E., but he could not doubt, by the 
singular conjunction of circumstances, that 
his call was a signal answer to prayer for 
direction ; and after the deliberation and 
counsel of a few weeks, even warmly 
attached friends acquiesced in his decision, 
that his Master had called him away for 



200 CJirisUan Womanhood. 

other service. Near the time of leaving, 
Mrs. E. writes to New York, giving many 
family details of the removal : 

"January 12, 1853. 

"My Dear Brother P., — As we are all 
broken up and about to leave, the first of the 
coming week, for our Western home, Mr. Everts 
has desired me to address you a hasty line, fearing 
that you might possibly come, as you intimated, 
and find us gone. Until within a few weeks, 
we did not know but that we should remain here 
till the last of February ; but things connected 
with the Mumford church, for which we are now 
staying here, matured so fast that Mr. E. has con- 
cluded the sooner they have a Pastor the better. 
The church has been constituted, deacons 
chosen, trustees elected, and all matters finally 
under way. We had a very pleasant donation 
visit, a few weeks since, which cheered us ex- 
ceedingly, as all appeared so warm-hearted and 
cordial. The result, pecuniarily, was about 
one hundred and fifty dollars, one hundred of 
which was in money. In order to help the 
young interest along, Mr. E. has appropriated 
the hundred toward building a lecture-room. . . . 
We are leaving not quite so well off, as far as 
this world is concerned, as when we came here ; 
but my dear husband's recruited health, 1 con- 
sider a full equivalent for the balance. Let 
your prayers follow my husband in his new field 
of labor and responsibility. Give our love to 



M. JT. Uverls. 201 

your dear wife and children. The Lord bless 
you abundantly in temporal and spiritual things, 
prays yours, 

" With sincere esteem, 

" M. K. Everts." 

An incident occurred in connection with 
their leave-taking, whose remembrance 
was particularly cherished by Mrs. E. For 
years, a noble christian man, belonging to 
the Episcopal Church, was in the habit of 
coming several miles to hold a Sunday 
School in the village of Mumford, bring- 
ing, in his own carriage, several of the 
teachers. When Mr. E. commenced 
preaching there, he encouraged it by his 
frequent presence, and heartily expressed 
approval. Even when a clergyman of his 
own church, with ill-advised zeal, sought 
to create partizan feeling, no mean secta- 
rianism could paralyze the honest religion 
of this brother, and he upheld the con- 
tinued service with all the power of his 
influential position. On the eve of their 
departure, after the farewell services with 
the Mumford Church, this Episcopal broth- 
er arose to formally make over the school 
13* 



202 C?irislia?i Womanhood. 

he had so long maintained, to the new- 
church, as their rightful charge ; and after 
expressing personal esteem and regret for 
the friend leaving them, handed him a 
purse of $100, that he had collected among 
his own friends, to make up for Mr. E.'s 
parting donation to the church. This 
fraternization, on the broad ground of 
christian sympathy, was eminently delight- 
ful to both husband and wife, and thrilled 
the religious community with a glimpse of 
something wider than creeds, stronger than 
church government, lovelier than the bond 
of a common membership — even that 
blest tie that binds our hearts in christian 
love. 




XIII. 

The Southern Home. 

,l And in the place where the cloud abode, there the 
Children of Israel pitched their tents. " 

SHE change from Wheatland to 
Louisville was, in every way, 
marked. From the parsonage 
on the hill-slope, among thrifty, 
hard-working farmers, an atmosphere, so- 
cial and physical, closely resembling ~New 
England, to the broad, shaded streets of an 
old and wealthy place, where the roomy 
houses and large garden space told of the 
milder climate and more luxurious life in 
this semi-Southern city. The call to Louis- 
ville not only seemed imperative, but oc- 
curred in connection with other circum- 
stances that cut off any alternative. After 
Mr. E. had left, to make arrangements for 
removal to L., another call came which, 



204 Christian Woman?wod. 

earlier, would have claimed favorable at- 
tention. While his best friends in Wheat- 
land finally agreed with his decision, yet, 
the morning they left, one of the deacons 
came two miles, before daylight, to ask a 
reconsideration of the matter, with such 
urgency that might have detained them, 
if pressed before. Mrs. E. expresses, in a 
letter to a brother, their conviction of a 
compelling and guiding Providence : 

" February 26, 1853. 

" My dear Brother In reference to 

our coming here you express your surprise. But 
all I can say is, that Providence drove us here, 
or else we can not read its workings. At the 
time the Chicago church wrote to Mr. Everts, so 
many things were pending and immature at 
"Wheatland, that it would have been disastrous 
to two new churches since organized had Mr. E. 
left. He was not allowed to choose — the ques- 
tion was not open. A few weeks later so 
changed matters, as you know we said they 
might do, that when the Louisville letter arrived, 
Providence seemed to indicate that Mr. E. had 
better agree to visit the church. Had he not 
consented to do so, two weeks later would have 
determined him to yield to the entreaties of the 
infant churches of Mumford and Clifton to remain 
with them. Having visited this place, he was 



M. JK. Uverts. 205 

astonished at the size, destitution, and. impor- 
tance of the field. Notwithstanding that his 
predilections were all North (and another letter, 
which he found on his return, from B., would 
have probably been favorably noticed had it come 
sooner), and his aversion to slavery, as I said, 
his conscience was so pressed as to leave him 
happy in no decision but to come here. The 
church has received him with great affection and 
confidence, and their hopes rally ; they believe 
that now the set time has come for God to favor 
Zion here, at least our particular part of the great 
sacramental host. The history of the Baptist 
cause here has been most humiliating and pain- 
ful. From having the first and most commanding 
position, they have misimproved their privileges, 
and now they have only two white churches, and 
only one pastor. The pillars of the other de- 
nominations are from Baptists. They have still 
many commanding and influential families, whose 
hearts are, I trust, set aright now, who intend 
to do what they can to atone for the past. But 
the story is too long to tell all over now ; when 
we meet, it may afford an interesting topic of 
conversation." .... 

The extreme cordiality and demonstra- 
tive kindness of waiting friends very soon 
made them at home in their new field. The 
church affairs were in such condition as to 
enlist their sympathy and labors to the 
full. The body was composed of two small 



206 Christian Womauliood '. 

churches, who, upon union, had com- 
menced a fine building in a prominent 
location, and, under the pastorate of the 
Rev. Thomas Smith, a young man of re- 
markable piety and talent, they looked 
forward to a prosperous future. But he 
died after a short term of service, and for 
nearly two years they were without a pas- 
tor. During this time the finances became 
somewhat embarrassed, and the work 
paused, so that they were still worshiping 
in the lecture-room when Mr. E. came. 
The members at once rallied round him, 
while the fact of a settled pastorate brought 
in a congregation that continued to in- 
crease. The completion of their building 
was undertaken, with additions of size and 
elegance to the original plan. When fin- 
ished, it was pronounced by architects and 
men of taste to be- the most chastely-beau- 
tiful edifice in the South-west. Very large 
subscriptions were made at the dedication, 
and within the following two weeks, the 
whole indebtedness, amounting to twenty 
thousand dollars, was subscribed. They 



M. J5:. Uverts. 207 

were not only thus successful in temporal 
plans, but all the meetings of the church 
took a higher tone of spirituality, while 
frequent additions were made to the mem- 
bership. But such prosperity did not be- 
get selfish ease. Before their house was 
finished, while encumbered with their own 
liabilities, a church building was offered 
for sale in a part of the city remote from 
Baptist influence, and highly advantageous. 
A deacon of Walnut Street, large-hearted 
and sagacious, bought this as a mission 
station, and the nucleus of a future church. 
In due time, some Mty members went as a 
colony. The new interest became an or- 
ganized body, and in steady growth went 
on, now, for many years, recognized as a 
strong church. In two extreme limits of 
the city, at different times, missions were 
established, one of which afterward became 
the Portland Church. At the time Mr. 
Oncken came to America he visited Louis- 
ville, and his presence and words of cheer 
gave such an inspiration to the German 
Baptists, that, aided by the Walnut-street 



208 Christian Womanhood. 

Church, they organized a church, bought 
a lot, eventually put up a good brick 
house and parsonage — the chapel being 
dedicated before Mr. E. left Louisville. 



XIV. 

Feasant Ye 




" 0, precious hours ! 0, golden prime, 
And affluence of love and time 1" 

yj±j°tMM0^G such church cares, the 
r iSa II first years in Louisville were 
happily passed. It was peculiar- 
' ly delightful to Mrs. E. to become 
an active participant in these labors, after 
her comparative seclusion ; and as her 
health improved in the milder climate, 
with more assistance in the family, she 
took up the maternal and female prayer- 
meetings, a Bible class for young ladies, and 
the tract- work, appointments which are 
impracticable in a country church. While 



M. JT. Hverts. 209 

engaged in tract distribution, Mrs. E. be- 
came involved in a history wbich affords 
us an interesting remembrance of her life. 
It was during a time of revival, and while 
they were holding special meetings, that, in 
company with another lady of the church, 
she called, when a gentleman met them 
who, though accepting the proffered tract, 
in reply to the inquiries concerning church 
relationship, courteously, but with the in- 
tention of precluding further conversation, 
informed his visitors that he was an actor 
of many years standing, at present engaged 
in the Louisville theatre. The ladies, how- 
ever, gave him an earnest invitation to at- 
tend the meetings then in progress, and 
with a few words of friendliness, inquired 
of the other occupants of the house. He 
told them of a young friend, also an actor, 
whom the ladies included in their invita- 
tion. The young, men both came, and yet 
again, until in answer to the prayers they 
asked of the church, these two, once ap- 
parently far removed from religious influ- 
ence, were baptized into the communion of 
the church. While many showed kindly 
14 



210 Christian W r o?nan7iood . 

interest, they both felt a peculiar claim on 
Mrs. Everts' friendship ; and it was in con- 
sultation with her and Mr. E. that they 
both determined to turn their attention to 
the ministry. The elder, in a few months, 
entered the public ministry, while the 
youth commenced a course of preparation 
for his work. During his permanent resi- 
dence, and frequent visits to the city, the lat- 
ter maintained an intimate acquaintance 
with Mrs. E., who cheered and advised him, 
taking a mother's part to his inexperience. 
In the wonderful working of Providence, 
this young man was called, within the next 
five years, from a prosperous field, to fill 
the pulpit Mr. E. left, for his Chicago 
home, and during his successful pastorate, 
he has never forgotten the friend who, in 
wisdom and tenderness, counseled his 
youth, as he testifies in the following 
lines : 

" In regard to her character, it hardly becomes 
me to speak, as my judgment was far from ma- 
ture" when I was most intimate with her ; yet I 
can speak of the impressions made upon me, for 
it was upon the heart, and the heart treasures 



M. I£. averts. 211 

up what the mind can not appreciate until after 
years have elapsed, when it collects and moulds 
them into breathing forms. So I can gather 
from the impressions of my heart, a conception 
of Sister Everts, which if not altogether faithful 
to the original, is, at least, a correct copy of the 
photograph which the light of her words and 
actions has rendered unfading in my soul. 
That which attracted my admiration most, was 
the wonderful balance and symmetry of her char- 
acter. She was certainly intellectual, capable 
of enjoying works of art, earnest and pious, sus- 
ceptible to the softest emotions, yet possessed 
of uncommon energy and marked decision of 
character. But she never made me feel that 
she was distinctively marked by any one of these 
features. It was not intellect, emotion or will, 
which distinguished her from others : it was 
completeness. In her presence, you were led 
to realize that there is such a thing as develop- 
ment which comprehends the whole mind and 
heart ; that to be intellectual, man need not be 
irreligious ; and being religious, does not neces- 
sitate the many eccentricities which too many 
commit to the disgrace of their profession. . . 
.... I never heard her speak lightly or slan- 
derously of any. Never did I know her to be at 
fault in her decisions, or rash in her counsels. 
At home, she was the wife, the mother, keeping 
her own house well ; in the church, she was the 
example nnto believers, and a helpmate to her 
husband ; and at home and abroad, in church and 
out of church, with the rich and the poor, under 



212 Christian Womanhood. 

all circumstances, she was always the same — 
the Christian. I can not express myself more 
clearly or more fully ; for no other word denotes 
more than this one — Christian. This she was, 
and the most perfect I have ever met. I feel it 
a sacred duty to her memory, publicly, to ac- 
knowledge my indebtedness to her. If I have 
advanced in the divine life, if I have been useful 
to the church, if I have been able to overcome 
spiritual enemies, I confess, freely and candidly, 
that, under God, I owe much of my success to 
her. She advised me, when I needed counsel ; 
she encouraged me amid my early perplexities 
and despondency ; and she prayed for me when 
only the strength of God could support me. 
She was to me a mother in Christ, and I shall 
always reverence her memory as a son. Her in- 
fluence has exerted an almost angelic power 
over me, and I hope for good to others, as well 
as to myself. Shall I not, therefore, arise and 
call her blessed?" 

This was but one among many instances 
of her wonderful influence over young 
men. Her cheerful, cordial manner, her 
loving, tender heart insensibly won the 
confidence ; and it was often a matter of 
playful comment that mother's charms had 
lost none of their potency with her increas- 
ing age and matronly dignities. The most 
dissimilar characters unbent to her, and 



M. JT. Inverts. 213 

made her the safe confidant of business 
plans or literary aspirations ; and as often 
in affairs of the heart she was called upon 
to decide, implored to intercede, or at least 
to hear and sympathize. It is hardly 
necessary to say, her delicacy never abused 
the trust. Whispers, or a second confi- 
dence, carried many a tale, until, perhaps, 
the happy removal of secrecy filled out 
blank conjecture. Three ministers in Ken- 
tucky ; another, gone from earthly service 
to heavenly reward ; one, an orphaned 
wanderer ; another, in enforced exile from 
home ; — these were foremost in claiming 
her as foster-mother, and but speak the ex- 
perience of many who can tell of a signal 
kindness, or of a brief, bright acquaintance, 
that they treasure as a sacred memory. 

"While the change of climate benefited 
Mrs. Everts' health, she also enjoyed more 
recreation. A number of the members 
lived out of town, and after the wearisome 
Sabbath duties, it was, for a long time, 
customary to spend " Blue Monday " 
among these country friends, where pastor 
and wife gained weekly refreshment. Mrs. 



214 



Christian Womanhood. 



E. accompanied her husband occasionally 
to fulfill appointments in different parts of 
the State, once going as far as New Orleans 
witn him, as he was called to a Southern 
Convention. Her native sprightliness as- 
serted itself on these excursions, and with- 
out abandoning her dignity, she enjoyed 
the novelties and incidents of travel with 
almost youthful zest. She considered it a 
duty to make a periodical visit to her 
father, during his lifetime ; there were also 
visits to St. Louis and Chicago ; and the 
family always felt repaid for her absence 
by the joyful return, when, in bettered 
health, her abounding love and gracious 
presence seemed to revitalize the home at- 
mosphere. Thus sped the happy years. 

Mrs. Everts' eldest brother, a man of love- 
ly character, died, after a long and painful 
sickness. Her affectionate heart keenly 
felt the loss of one endeared by long years 
of the tenderest intimacy; but she that 
lived in constant communion with another 
world, could not sorrow " as those without 
hope." Concerning this sad event she 
writes thus : 



M. JT. Uverls. 215* 

" November 24, 1853. 

" My dear Brother,— ! have had a great de- 
sire to write you, particularly since our beloved 
brother's death, but have been compelled to deny 
myself the pleasure. Lately, I have had press- 
ing duties enough for two women. Thank you 
for your kindness in writing ; it is extremely 
gratifying to me. Last week, after waiting 
some time to hear from Philadelphia, T received 
a letter, stating that J.'s symptoms were worse, 
which prepared me to believe that his course- 
was nearly run. I was not, however, prepared 
for the intelligence, which reached me the next 
day, that he was numbered with the dead. His 
disease seems to have terminated in geueral con- 
sumption, and his decline must have been rapid. 
Papa wrote only two or three lines, saying that 
his spirit had fled, and that he died triumphantly. 
I am awaiting anxiously further particulars, such 
as whether he could speak at all, and whether 
he was conscious until the last, etc. I felt last 
week as if I must go to him, and was only pre- 
vented by my little children, whom I could not 
take, and dared not leave. It is no small part 
of my own trial to be separated from our dear 
father, sister, and brother. No doubt you feel 
the same. In affliction we have always been 
together ; could it be so now, the gratification 
would be great. I often think of our dear de- 
parted as I saw him for the last time, with 
emaciated frame, and disease rapidly spreading, 
wending his way to his naternal home. His last 



216 Christian Womanhood. 

look was full of affection and interest, an expres- 
sion as if he had said, ' I shall never behold jou 
more.' Sometimes I think of him as lying in 
the cold grave ; but the feeling that his sainted 
spirit is enjoying the realization of its hopes, 
makes me rejoice to think of him as freed from 
sorrow and pain, and as making one of the great 
company that no man can number, around the 
throne of our great Immanuel. I foel that in 
his death we have every alleviation ; his piety 
was well tested, and he left the most cheering 
evidence of being a devoted child of God ; and 
then in his unblemished character I feel that we 
have real cause for gratitude. The lip of scorn 
or slander can never wound his fair fame. From 
my knowledge of human nature, I believe him 
to have been as pure a character as lives. Mr 
F. has noticed his death in the ' Western Recor 
der,' with some remarks ; and last Sabbath, Mr 
Everts, in recommending the importance and de 
sirableness of a christian character, spoke of J, 
as one illustrating the just and upright christian 
man. But his goodness is known to us, written 
in lively and imperishable memorials on our 
hearts. We learn that Uncle C. and L. are 
very serious. I hope it may appear that our 
dear brother's example has done much to con- 
vince them of the power of religion. Let us 
pray that his death may be sanctified to all our 
dear family ; that C. may lay it to heart, and 
seek the pardon of his sins ; that our dear father 
may be induced to make a christian profession. 
.... May the Lord bless you, my dear brother, 



M* J£. &verls. 1x7 

and make you a great blessing ; prepare you in 
life for death, in time, for eternity. 

" Your affectionate sister, 

"Margaret." 

Further glimpses of their life we may 
glean from letters : 

" January 12, 1857. 

" My Dear Brother C, — My first letter writ- 
ten this New Year, is to you. I am ashamed 
that yours has been so long unanswered, but 
upon coming home from Chicago, after a month's 
absence, I found my sewing had so accumulated 
that I have been very busy getting the children 

ready for winter You said in your 

letter Papa would soon write ; if he has done so, 
I have never received the letter. I judged from 
the fact of his going to Jersey, that he had 
quite recovered from his injury. What a mer- 
ciful deliverance. Nothing but the hand of God 
saved his life. Surely this is another reason 
why we should serve Him more devotedly. Dear 
brother, let us begin this new year with the 
resolution of Joshua, " As for me, I will serve 
the Lord." It may be, that, in the counsels of 
heaven, this year may close our mortal history. 
0, let us be ready, by a hearty repentance and 
true faith, to meet our Lord at his coming. We 
all continue in good health and greatly blessed. 
The goodness of our heavenly Father to us, fills 
me with amazement. Surely he has dealt kind- 
14* 



21 8 Christian Womanhood. 

\j with us. You are not given to fault-finding, 
but how many are ; is it not a sin? To me it 
]ooks very black when we deserve so little at 
our Father's hands. New Year's day passed 
pleasantly by with us. The ladies inquired 
if it would be agreeable for us to receive 
calls from the church and congregation, and 
allow them to provide the entertainment. They 
did so, and we had a very fine time; a great 
abundance of every thing was sent in." . . . 

" Louisville, January, 1858. 

" My Dear Brother, — It has been my wish 
to write for some time, but we have been wholly 
occupied, having been holding meetings nearly 
every night for several weeks. God is visiting 
us in mercy, and is granting us, we believe, a 
genuine revival of religion. The church, with 
others, had been suffering declension, and the 
members covenanted to meet together for 
prayer and conference ; this we did for a week, 
after which Mr. E. commenced preaching every 
night, a short sermon, and then the members 
would take up the time in confession, exhorta- 
tion, and prayer. We have had two days of 
fasting and prayer. God has been propitious, 
and we are now rejoicing in his presence. We 
met all through the holidays, and the feeling 
among the unconverted is, we trust, deepening 
and spreading. Twelve have been baptized, 
and six are to be, to-night. Rejoice with us, 
and give God the glory. How are matters pro- 
gressing with you? Is your church also enjoy- 



M. JK. averts. 219 

ing like blessings ? Now is the time for Christ- 
ians to follow the Providence of God, that has 
been teaching men of the world so serious a 
lesson concerning the instability of all human 
affairs. Write and let us know all about you. 
How we are separated from those we love, are 
we not ? " Absence makes the heart grow 
fonder;" is it not so? Mother C. is spending 
the winter with us ; she has lost her husband, 
and we wrote for her to come at. once. She ex- 
pects to go east in the spring. Also Mrs. M. 
is with us. I believe you saw her when you 
were here. She could not get suited in a board- 
ing place and requested us to take her ; it 
seemed to be duty, and we did so. Thus you 

see our family changes But I must 

stop, although I should love to chat longer, as 
several letters have to be sent off this morning. 
Hoping soon to hear from you, and wishing you 
a happy New Year, and many of them, 

" I am, your affectionate sister, 

" M. K. Everts." 




XV. 

Time and Change. 

11 We see which way the stream of time doth run, 
And are enforced from our most quiet sphere 
By the rough torrent of occasion." 

|X April of 1858, she was called 
to Philadelphia by the sudden 
illness of her father. The sum- 
mons came for haste, but it was 
then too late on Saturday to commence her 
journey, without traveling on the Sabbath, 
and that was not even mentioned as possi- 
ble. A late Sunday night train was pro- 
posed by a friend ; but, true to her princi 
pies, she would not infringe upon sacred 
time ; and, after a day of painful but prayer- 
ful anxiety, she left early on Monday. 
She writes immediately upon reaching 
there, to an absent brother : 



M. K. Everts. 221 

"April 15, 1858. 

" My Dear Brother, — I arrived here last 
night at midnight, and reached Papa's this morn- 
ing. The doctor has just left, and says our dear 
father is dangerously sick. He can not tell how 
the disease may terminate, but does not give 
much hope — dares not encourage. "We asked 
him if we had better telegraph or write for you 
to come on. He thought we had better do so. 
I am very glad I have come, and much fear the 
worst. He is very weak, has no appetite, sleeps 
little. His disease is of the lungs and heart. 
The lung, the doctor thinks is better, but the 
heart no better. Now, dear brother, I have told 
you just how things are, so as to clear ourselves 
of reproach, in case he shonld pass away without 
your seeing him. We would have telegraphed, 
but the doctor does not seem to anticipate sud- 
den death May God, in his mercy, 

prepare us for whatever of sorrow he may be 
preparing for us. My heart sinks within me at 
the thought of seeing one we have so long re- 
vered and loved, close his eyes upon us and all 
things earthly. 

" Your loving sister. 

" Margaret. " 

The letters which follow, tell the story 
of her father's death : 



222 Christian H r o??ianhood . 

u Philadelphia, May 1, 1858. 

" My Dear Brother, — I hope by this time, 
that you have reached home in safety. How 
kindly does our Heavenly Father care for us 
amid dangers, seen and unseen. Let us always 
have a lively sense of his goodness, and in every 

thing give thanks His fever has raged 

very high the last eighteen hours, until it ap- 
pears to be consuming him. The next letter 
will probably announce hi3 death, for I see not 
how he can survive much longer. Pray that 
God may, in mercy, hand him gently down to 
the grave. He looked upon us this morning, and 
said, as nearly as I could distinguish the words, 
" God bless you all ; I feel that my sins are all 
forgiven." I much regret to lose one word, but 
his poor, parched lips forbid distinct utterance. 
Let us, dear brother, moderate our pursuit of 
every thing earthly, and as we resign our loved 
parent to the care of our covenant-keeping God, 
prepare for the change which may soon come — 
how soon none but He can tell. We will write 
in a day or two. When you left, the nature of 
the bereavement which awaits us flashed across 
my mind with fresh force. That you had taken 
your last meal under the hospitable roof of our 
dear father, had left the paternal mansion, per- 
haps never more to return, that we, as a family, 
had met in it for the last time, all these thoughts 
filled me with sadness. "But it is the Lord; 
let him do as seemeth him good." 

" Your loving sister, 

" M. K. Everts." 



M. JT. Uverts. 223 

" Philadelphia, May 7, 1858. 

" My Dear Brother, — You have, before 
this, received intelligence of your beloved father's 
death. The same afternoon that you left, he 
became worse, and continued to fail. That 
night was one of great suffering, and I was glad 
you were spared the trial of witnessing it. He 
was sensible, we think, until the last hour, which 
made it more trying to see him suffer. But he 
sleeps in Jesus, and is blest. He is done with 
pain. May the Lord cause us to profit by this 
affliction, is my prayer. He died on Sunday af- 
ternoon at six o'clock. We followed his remains 
to their last resting place, yesterday. . . . We 
arrived at Allentown by 10 o'clock, where 
were a large number of relatives assembled at 
church. Mr. Perkins preached a short discourse 
from the words, " Go quickly, tell his disciples 
that he has risen from the dead." The coffin 
was then opened, and the relatives and friends 
permitted to look at the loved face for the last 
time. We proceeded to the burial ground, 
(which is a beautiful spot), to the lot cousin A. 
had purchased in the most desirable part of the 
ground. There was a grave dug wide enough 
to hold two abreast, and our dear mother's re- 
mains (which we had removed on Monday, and 
sent in a new coffin in advance of the funeral), 
lay beside our beloved father. Now all is done 
as our dear father requested. We spared 
nothing that would testify our respect and affec- 
tion." 



224 



C?irisHan }} r oma?i7iood. 



In the summer of 1858, Mr. Everts 
received a call from the ^North Church, of 
Chicago, which he thought it best to re- 
fuse. Mrs. E. gives their reasons in full in 
a letter to her brother, and from this time, 
with her own pen, gives the concluding 
chapter of their Louisville life : 

" Summer of 1858. 

M Very dear Brother, — I have been trying 
to get an opportunity to write for several days, 
but have been obliged to postpone it. Mr. E. 
has been, for the two past Mondays, expecting 
to leave for Chicago, but has finally given it up 
for the present. Things are in such a state here 
that Mr. E. feels that he would be recreant to 
duty to quit the field. We have been going 
through sore trials, brought on by an individual 
of whom I believe I have spoken to you before, 
and who we think a very bad man. His desire 
and plans, for two or three years, have been to 
get Mr. E. out of the State ; for this he has 
been resorting to all sorts of manoeuvres and 
misrepresentations, endeavoring, by innumerable 
falsehoods, to injure Mr. E.'s reputation in the 
State. He was jealous of his influence, so he 
has acknowledged, and has been determined to 
remove him. Our church is perfectly united, 
with the exception of some five or six brethren, 
and last year has been one of great spiritual 
prosperity among us. The Baptist cause was 



M. K. Uverts. 



225 



never as strong here as in the past five or six 
years, and Satan himself seems to want to create 
division. The church, through the whole, have 
shown extraordinary devotion to their pastor and 
to right principles, and-Mr. E. feels that to leave 
them, without strong indications of Providence 
as to his duty in this respect, would be wrong. 
Some feel that if he were to go, the church 
would be divided, and great trouble would ensue. 
Under these circumstances he has written to the 
brethren in Chicago, that, at present, he does 
not see that he can possibly leave this field with- 
out doing damage to himself and the cause. 
You know how I wrote previously to you — did 
Providence so lead, how cheerfully I, for one, 
would change my residence ; but, upon looking 
and praying over the matter, we have both 
come to the same conclusion : that it would be 
wrong. Mr. E. fully intended to go last Mon- 
day, and had his arrangements made, but was 
hindered. We hope the brethren who so kindly 
expressed their confidence and interest in him 
will appreciate the reasons of his declining to 
visit them. To do so, with the conviction that 
he ought not to leave here, would be treating 
them unkindly." 

In the spring of 1859, the call was re- 
newed. Concerning this, Mrs. Everts 
writes : 



15 



226 C/irMian Womanhood 

"Louisville, May 15, 1859. 

" My dear Brother, — Yours of last week, 
and Mr. B. 1 s official letter of to-day, have been 
received. My spirit is oppressed with the res- 
ponsibility of deciding in this matter. I confess 
to you, privately, that my heart says go, but I 
dare not trust its decision for fear it may be 
selfish. It would be so pleasant for us all to be 
together, as you say ; but perhaps our heavenly 
Father does not see best to gratify us in this 
particular. No place in the Union presents such 
attractions to me, now that our dear father has 
gone, as where my brothers live. 

" Some weeks ago, when the * * * church 
were so desirous of having Mr. E., I felt no 
drawing that way, although it is one of the most 
important churches in the West. While at R. 
last week, or week before, he was visited by a 
committee from the Baptist Church of A., 
Georgia, inquiring if he would take Dr. B.'s 
place, as their pastor, at a salary of * * * ; but 
I have no desire to go farther South, although, 
perhaps, the trials a Northern man experiences 
in a slave State are more in these States on the 
line than the more Southern. Pray for us, that 
the Great Head of the Church may lead us in 
that way which will be for his glory and the 
good of his cause. Would not living be more 
expensive in Chicago than here ? The matter 
of house-rent certainly would, would it not? 
You know Mr. E. now receives * * * and his 
life insurance ; and there has lately been a move- 
ment made among some to increase his salary. 



M. J£. JtJverts. 221 

Mr. E.'s habits of giving are such that he needs 
a good salary to carry them out. This is, of 
course for your ear." 

"Louisville, June 2, 1859. 

" My deae Brother, — I sit down to write a 
hasty line. Some days ago, Mr. E. wrote a pri- 
vate letter to Mr. B., in reference to the pro- 
posed change of his pastoral relations. If Mr. 
B. has gone East before getting it, will you open 
it and speak of its contents to some of your ju- 
dicious brethren. Mr. E. spoke at some length 
in reference to the salary. This is never a first 
consideration with him, but, of course, one which 
he feels he must have some regard to. The posi- 
tion as pastor of the church we now serve, and 
your church also, is one attended with large ex- 
penses. Our family is so public, that, to fulfil the 
apostolic injunction — to be given to hospitality 
— requires a very different outlay from one of the 
same size in the more private walks of life. I 
see not how we could keep up our life insurance 
at all ; and then to sacrifice the beautiful horse 
given by our dear friends here because we could 
not afford to keep him, although the exercise is 
needed for Mr. E.'s health, is very mortifying. 
It would seem like going down, instead of going 
up. You know how we live ; we do not wish to 
live any more extravagantly, all we wish is a 
comfortable home. But enough of this. I think 
Mr. E.'s mind is made up to go. I am satisfied 
that a Northern man labors at fearful odds at the 
South — prejudice, deep and ready to be roused 



228 Christian Womanhood. 

on all occasions, makes a stay here uncomfort- 
able. If we go to Chicago, Mr. E. feels that a 
union so solemnly formed should not be rudely 
broken, and hence proposes to remain some 
weeks, more or less, as may seem advisable. 
What think you ? When would it be best to 
come. I feel most happy at the prospect of 
being near my dear family once again ; it is 
something I have hardly dared to hope for. We 
shall never, probably, find a church who will 
love Mr. E. any better than this, but there are 
some spirits who make a Northern pastor's place 
very uncomfortable.' 

"Louisville, June 10, 1859. 

" My dear Brother, — Your last letter has 
just come to hand, and I hasten to send a short 
reply. On Sabbath last, at the Communion, 
Mr. Everts presented his resignation to the 
church, to take effect not later than the last of 
July. On Tuesday night, some forty of our 
young business men (members of the church) 
met, and unanimously resolved that all hindrances 
to Mr. Everts staying should be removed, even 
if it resulted in division, or excluding the few 
men who have given the church and Mr. Everts 
so much trouble. The church meeting, to con- 
sider Mr. E.'s resignation, comes off to-night — 
a very exciting one is anticipated. Great oppo- 
sition is felt to our leaving ; but such is the 
prejudice a Northern man of any notoriety has 
to encounter, that we both feel that life is too 
short to waste in antagonisms. If Mr. E. was a 



M. K. JEJverls. 



229 



young man, he would not leave ; but as lie has 
made a reputation, he does not choose longer to 
embarrass his usefulness. We have dear friends, 
a devoted church — except a few — and the trial 

will be great to part with them I almost 

fear to have as much enjoyment in this world as 
a residence near you will afford. God bless and 
guide us in this and every other matter, prays 
" Your fond sister, 

" Margaret." 

" Louisville, June 13, 1859. 

*' My dear Brother, — You and Mr. B. are, 

probably, both awaiting a letter from my dear 
husband, and I hoped he would be able to write 
you ere this. Last Sabbath, as I wrote you, he 
resigned the charge of the church, and last Fri- 
day was appointed for the church meeting. At 
that meeting resolutions were offered and unani- 
mously adopted, which I will copy, that you may 
appreciate the state of things : 

" \ Whereas, our pastor has tendered his resig- 
nation of the pastorate of this church, therefore, 

" ' Resolved, That we have an abiding confi- 
dence in the purity and integrity of the personal 
and ministerial character of our pastor ; and that 
the trials' through which we have passed have 
doubly endeared him to us, and strengthened the 
ties which before existed. 

" ' Resolved, That, in view of his faithful labors, 
and the success that has attended his ministry, we 
earnestly request him to reconsider his determin- 



230 CJiristian Woma?i?iood '. 

ation, and, if it accords with his views of duty 
to withdraw his resignation.' 

" We had notified our landlord that we would 
probab y leave the last of July, and felt that we 
were almost on the wing ; but until after the 
special church meeting this week, shall be unable 
to say positively. We feel like Israel, when 
Moses said to them : < Stand still, and see the 
salvation of God.' We are unable to move a 
step until we study the will of the Lord as it 
may be made known to us by the meeting of 
Wednesday. Dear brother, if you ever prayed 
in earnest, pray the earnest prayer for us now. 
Mr E. desires me to say that his convictions as 
to leaving remain the same as when he wrote ■ 
but the relation between pastor and people is so 
sacred, that it can not be too readily severed. 
-He also feels that if another such union is formed 
a ain " ° Ut the necessit 7 of breaking it up 

" Louisville, June 18, 1859. 
" Dear Brother,— I write a few lines to let 
you know how matters stand here. Mr Everts 
informed the church last night that he saw no 
reason for reconsidering his resignation, and that 
henceforth he should move among them as a 
member. They have not yet acted upon it, but 
his determination is fixed, so you may if God 
permit, expect us. We feel very sad aV leaving 
so many dear friends, who have shown us so 
much kindness. I hope God will reward them 
tor all their acts of love. We can not say de- 



M. J£. Uverts. 231 

oidedly when you may expect us, but we will 
probably leave some time in July. Mr. Everts 
wrote Mr. B. some days ago ; will write him 
again soon. May our coming be a blessing, and 
cause of everlasting thanksgiving that we were 
permitted to labor with your church. Accept 
much love from Mr. Everts and the children. 
" Your fond sister, 

" Margaret." 

The spring following their departure 
from Louisville, Mr. and Mrs. E., in going 
to Cincinnati to attend the meeting of the 
Missionary Union, answered the many ur- 
gent invitations from L. by a short visit. 
The familiar letters describing this visit, 
afford us a glimpse of the warm attach- 
ments formed here — love which would 
hold them, as the inscription upon their 
elegant gift declared, " in memoria eterna." 

u Louisville, May 18, 1860. 

" My dear Children, Brothers and Sister, 
— You see this is indeed a family letter, which 
I have seized the first interval of leisure to 
write. I arrived at this place, after a safe and 
pleasant journey, about one o'clock yesterday. 
.... Our friends were not expecting me until 
four o'clock; but Mrs. TVs carriage was all 
ready to take her and Mr. P. to meet me, when 



232 



Christian Womanhood. 



she heard of my arrival. Such overwhelming 
attention I certainly never received. There was 
a regular debate as to who should entertain us. 
After long consultation, it was decided that we 
should go to Mr. T.'s and stay two nights, and 
spend the last two at Mr. P.'s. Before I could 
arrange my dress, friends began to call, and the 
news of my arrival spread so rapidly that there 
was a steady stream of callers until after ten 
o'clock. To-night we are invited to tea at Mr. 
P.'s, to-morrow night at Mr. D.'s ; Sunday night 
Mrs. S. insists on our taking tea with her. Up 
to ten o'clock last night I had twenty-eight calls, 

and thirteen already this morning I hope 

you will all get along nicely while we are away, 
will all keep well, and that when we meet again 
we shall have cause to thank our heavenly Fa- 
ther for his sparing and protecting mercy. 
M Your loving mother and sister, 

" Margaret." 

" Cincinnati, May 22, 1860. 

"Dear E., — It was my intention to write 
before leaving Louisville, but it was quite 
out of my power, owing to the company that was 
about us from early in the morning until late 
bed-time. We have not heard from home, but 
shall inquire at the office to-day. I am not tak- 
ing anxious thought about you all, but have com- 
mitted you to an ever-watchful heavenly Father. 
"We trust you are all well and happy. ... I 
shall have to wait until I get home to give you 
a full description of our visit. It has been one 



M. £". Uverts. 



2 33 



of rare enjoyment, pleasure, amounting to pain. 
We were followed up with attentions from the 
time we set our feet in L., until we left. ' Fri- 
day evening, after meeting, we called at Mr. D.'s, 
as we often used to do, and found their large 
parlor full of friends to meet us. About time to 
leave, we bade them good evening, and went to 
Mr. T.'s, where we found their parlors filling up, 
but still we did not suspect any thing. After a 
while, we had a delightful serenade, and at ten 
o'clock, an elegant supper, of which some hun- 
dred partook. The next day we went to Mr. 
P.'s to stay the rest of the time, and received 
calls until a late tea, which we were to take at 
Mr. D.'o. We expected to have a quiet evening, 
but, as before, the friends came nocking in. 
About ten o'clock, Mr. T. drew my hand in his 
arm, and led me to one end of the parlor, when 
a napkin was removed, and to our utter astonish- 
ment, a silver service, consisting of pitcher, goblets, 
and salver, were presented to us through Mr. D. 
After a brief response by your father, and prayer, 
we separated. I never felt so overwhelmed by 
demonstrations of affection in my life. Sunday, 
your father preached to large congregations, and 
in the intervals our dear friends kept about us. 
Some followed us to Mrs. S.'s to tea, and after 
service, to Mr. P.'s. 1 was very much urged to 
remain, and almost concluded to do so, but finally 
accompanied your father, arriving at this place 

about noon But I close in haste, with 

untold love for all. 

"Your devoted 
15* " Mother." 




XVI. 

The Last Home. 

1 Yet nightly pitch my wandering tont. 
A day's march nearer home." 

jHICAGO, in 1856, was, as some 
timid conservatives feared, a bub- 
ble at the highest inflation, as 
1 sagacious men every where said, 
at a giddy height of prosperity. And 
while men rioted in the abundant evidences 
of material growth, practical Christianity 
partook of the exhilarating atmosphere, 
and in a noble spirit of progress and emu- 
lation, the churches enlarged their borders, 
erected elegant and spacious buildings, 
suited to the probable future of this won- 
derful young city, took possession of new 
ground for mission chapels, and originated 
new schemes of benevolence. 



M. K. averts. 235 

Our own denomination somewhat sadly 
stood in the back-ground. The mother 
church, burdened by heavy and growing 
debt, stood as a cripple in this great race 
of improvement, and the weaker bodies 
suffered in consequence, from apathy and 
disaffection. The First Church suffered in 
the accumulation of individual wealth, 
and the lack of commensurate enter- 
prise and extension. Laxity of practice 
crept in, and then succeeded a perilous 
time of crimination and discipline. The 
world was in the ascendant, and the church 
felt the consequence of recreancy to 
her trust. 

A christian lady from another city, stop- 
ping in C. for a while, speaks thus of that 
period of the church's history : "I came 
here quite a stranger, and looked around 
with some curiosity, to determine the state 
of this religious community. I saw many 
things that surprised and pained me ; a 
conformity to the world; in many, conces- 
sions to custom, and in some, alliance 
with fashionable frivolity, that seemed to 
lower the standard of the cross, and lose 



236 Christian Womanhood. 

from sight those eminently christian traits 
of self-denial, humility, and zeal. Especial- 
ly among my own sex, I felt the need of a 
renewed consecration." 

The inevitable crisis in Chicago affairs 
came at length, and brought down busi- 
ness to a safer basis, though at the cost of 
much disaster. And now church mat- 
ters looked more gloomy. The debt which 
in prosperous times had weighed upon 
them, now seemed to threaten extinction 
of all vitality. Many of the members had 
suffered great losses ; there was a strong 
feeling that help must come soon. A wide- 
spread revival in 1858, that brought in 
valuable accessions to the membership, 
did much to restore confidence and a 
measure of prosperity. 

The church, for the second time, gave a 
call to Dr. Everts, then in Louisville. The 
call was accepted in August of 1850, and 
Mrs. Everts now came upon a field of labor 
broad enough to fully occupy that large 
heart and brain, the willing hands and 
tireless feet. A church depressed and 
burdened, denominational needs urgent, 



M. £". Uverls. 



2 37 



an infant University struggling for exis- 
tence, and the numberless wants and woes 
of this city of great promise, all appealed 
strongly to her ardent consecration. We 
select from her correspondence, letters 
written to Louisville, in the first few 
months after leaving that place, comprising 
recollections of* the old home, and impres- 
sions of the new : 

August 15, 1859 — Remembrances of L. ; 
impressions of new home immediately after or- 
rival in G. : 

11 Deae Sister C, — Truly, as you say, our 
hearts turn to correspondence as the only resort, 
in the absence of personal communication. The 
stereotyped question is asked my husband or bro- 
thers each day : ' Have you any letters ?' showing 
how much pleasure is received from this source. 
I should have answered yours sooner, but, as 
you may suppose, getting to housekeeping, un- 
packing, arranging, etc., has been very fatiguing, 
and has taken much time. In consequence of 
over-fatigue and change of climate, I have several 
times been quite unwell ; but have now got quite 
settled, all ready to entertain you and jour dear 
husband and other of the precious friends we 
have left in Louisville. Mr. Everts' health has 
suffered considerably before coming here, and so 



2 3 8 



Christian Womanhood. 



much was his energy impaired, that had you 
heard him preach for a Sabbath or two after 
coming, you would not have thought it the same 
person, unless your eyes made it evident. He 
is much better in health, and I hope, with the 
aid of the lake trip he proposes to take, will be 
quite well again. 

" You wish to know, doubtless, what are our 
impressions of Chicago. It is truly all that 
others say of it, a wonderful city — in location, 
enterprise, achievement, and wickedness. Pro- 
gress is stamped on every thing. I hope we are 
not deceived in our impression that this enter- 
prise extends itself in Jhe church. There are 
many active Christians here, and surely they are 
needed, for wickedness comes in like a flood. 
The Sabbath question has been agitated much, 
lately, in consequence of a line of horse cars 
having been started. Last night Mr. Everts 
preached on the Sabbath as a religious day, and 
Sabbath or two ago, on its benefits to the race. 
I hope the efforts of the pastors here will be 
blessed to arousing the public conscience to the 
importance of redeeming the day from secular 
purposes. But time and paper admonish me to 
close this hasty scrawl. Be assured how much 
pleasure it gives us to hear from you." 

September 30, 1859 — Further tribute of 
remembrances and experiences in new home : 



M. J?. Uverls. 



2 39 



" Dear Sister C, — How do you do, after so 
long a time ? Luxuriating in fruit, if we may 
judge from the fine specimens sent us ; the box 
laden with grapes and peaches came to hand, and 
was as acceptable as if filled with gold, for it told 
of precious remembrance, and who does not wish 
to be remembered ? 

" ' Not golden apples from the trees of bright Hesperides 
Could to our sight more precious be 
Than these choice peaches are from thee; 
For 'tis the love we bear our friends 
That to each gift its value lends.' 

For a time we did not know who had thus favored 
us, the name being so modestly traced upon the 
cover. In looking over the premiums given at ' 
the late fair in L., we were much gratified to see 
your name and Brother P.'s among the favored 
ones ; could wishes bring prosperity, it would 
always be yours, for from our hearts we would 
have you favorites of Providence. And yet how 
ignorant we are of what is best for those we 
love ; what we intend for blessing may be far 
otherwise, and what we regard as affliction, in 
the hand of the Lord becomes blessing. Is it 
not, then, safe and happy to trust our heavenly 
Father ? Shall we not say with Job, though he 
slay me, yet will I trust in him ? I am quite 
anxious to hear again from yourselves and Bro- 
ther P.'s family. I know you have much to 
occupy you, in which I can heartily sympathize, 
having a standing family of twelve. But the 
stray moments may come when you can ' turn 



240 C?wistian Womanhood, 

aside and rest awhile,' and then pen a few lines 
to jour loving friend." 

October 17th, 1859. — Acknowledgment of 
testimonials, and health of family : 

" Dear Sister P., — Just to see the traces of 
jour pen is most grateful, even if the letter is 
short. I was quite surprised and much obliged 
for the plate jou sent me. Please present to 
mj dear sisters, the donors, my appreciation of 
their affectionate regard — first, in having mj face 
engraved, and then in presenting the plate. It 
is onlj another of a series of most delicate atten- 
tions paid to me and mine, which have made an 
indelible impression upon our hearts. Brother S. 
leaves us in the morning; and although I have 
been confined to mj bed all daj, I rise this eve- 
ning, determined to send jou a line, if possible. 
Mr. Everts has been quite unwell for several 
weeks, and reallj sick for ten dajs. He came 
here verj much worn, and should have taken 
some weeks to recruit ; but instead of that he 
found his post one of so great responsibility, that 
he has exerted himself bejond his strength. Af- 
ter raising the church debt, which is considered 
so wonderful an event in these times, the church 
had a sort of jubilee meeting, entertained bj 
speeches, singing, refreshments, etc., and after- 
wards he was sick for a daj or two, then went 
out Too soon, was taken with some pain in his 
side, which resulted in slight congestion of the 
right lung, from which he is onlj now recover- 



M. K. JEJverts. 241 

ing — still couglis considerably. I wish he could 
rest for a few months, but I suppose that he can 
not do. 

" Tell Brother P. his last letter has been re- 
ceived, and read with eagerness. Tell him not 
to be discouraged on account of the trials of the 
way. His Captain always insures a victory." 

January 17th, 1860. — Remembrance of 
friends and church in Louisville, with notice of 
progress in C. 

11 Dear Sister P., — We had just returned 
from a visit, when my brother hailed me, and 
said he had a letter for me. I was not long in 
discovering that it was from our long-tried and 
precious friend, V. C. P. My heart warms at 
the mention of your name ; yes, and it will 
always do so. Friendship is not to be lightly 
appreciated ; and when cemented by trial, as ours 
has been, it should be lasting as life itself. God 
grant that it may flourish in greenness and beau- 
ty, until the pulsations of our hearts shall cease 
in death, and then be revived to be consummated 
in eternity. You speak of a company of our 
dear friends met at Brother B.'s the other night. 
Oh, if body could travel like spirit, how gladly 
would we have joined you ! What can we say 
for all the kind words and affectionate remem- 
brance you say they expressed ! Some feelings 
can n'ot be spoken ; this is one of them. God 
knows how ardently we return every such ex- 

16 



242 Christian Wo7nci7iJiood \ 

pression. Tell them all so, when you have an 
opportunity. 

'• We see that Brother A. comes to you under 
very inauspicious circumstances. Mr. E. and 
myself have felt much confidence in him, and 
hope he may be made a blessing to the church. 

" We rejoice to know that you stand by the 
church, and mourn for the afflictions of Joseph. 
May the Lord point out a right way before his 
people, and may they be enabled to walk in it. 
We feel sad to hear how the congregations have 
run down. Do Brother TVs family attend? 
Have they moved into town? Have many 
dropped their pews ? 

" Thank you very much for your cordial invi- 
tation to your house and to L. Mr. E. expects 
to attend the Union at Cincinnati, and he may, 
and probably will, go to L. He is also specially 
invited, in a most fraternal letter from Brother 
Foster Ray, to attend the dedication of their 
new meetine-house in Lebanon. He acknow- 
ledges Mr. E/s services in aiding them in the 
accomplishment of that work, and says they 
desire him to preach at its opening, in July. He 
will probably go. We are very glad to learn 
that Brother Medeulet has been sustained. May 
God reward you all for your care of the little 
German flock. 

"Has any thing been heard especially about 
Brother T.'s health ? God grant him many years 
yet to His cause on earth. When any of you 
write, fail not to give our best love to them. A 
flying visit from you ! ! Why may it not be ? 



My K. Uverts. 243 

If not sooner, why not return with Mr. E., in 
May ? Now make your calculations, take Time 
by the forelock, and let nothing prevent ; heart 
and home will open to receive you. I have not 
made definite calculations about going with Mr. 
E., although the thing is possible, and would 
afford me a melancholy pleasure. It is not too 
late to wish your household, one and all, a pros- 
perous, happy and useful New Year. Tell the 
children that their little faces and forms are im- 
printed on our memories, and from time to time 
we shall hope to hear of their welfare. We 
prize their love very much, and shall cherish it. 
Tell them their little friends, M.,"W. andN., are 
all well, and love to talk of L. They are not 
by any means weaned from their dear friends 
there. Mr. E. is much occupied, has many ap- 
pointments out of town, to lecture. Thursday 
next he goes to a town on the railroad, about one 
hundred and twenty miles, to return the next 
day. Last week he went in another direction. 
There is much religious enterprise here. The 
Baptists have just revived a Union among them- 
selves, to look after mission work in the city and 
neighborhoods around C, and to look after the 
interests of the denomination generally." . . . 

We are accustomed to accept generalities 
concerning the adaptations of Providence ; 
but sometimes a particular case enforces 
our passive creed with startling distinctness. 
To those who understood Mrs. E.'s charac- 



244 



C/iris?ia?i Womanhood. 



ter, and knew the discipline that had ma- 
tured her, it seemed that she had been fitted 
for this particular place, and brought here 
in due time. Let us pause and note the 
woman who comes to the work. 



XVII. 

;-M.istress, Wife, Mother. 

11 For she hath lived with heart and soul alive 
To all that makes life beautiful and fair." 

IRS. EVERTS' health was never 
better than when she came to 
Chicago, and during the rest of 
her life she was unusually exempt 
from debility or illness. Her appearance 
did not indicate her age; for simple diet, 
regular habits, and cheerful temper, pre- 
served for her much of the freshness of 
earlier life. Her step wa3 elastic, her brow 
un wrinkled; her native buoyancy stood 
her in good stead as mental support ; her 




M. K. averts. 245 

powers were fully matured ; she was trained 
by a long course of years to the fullest ap- 
preciation of a position which she had first- 
assumed with singular fitness; her active 
mind keenly alive to the demands of her 
age, she yet appreciated the proper relative 
position of the church and the world. 

As the mistress of a household, domestic 
cares, though lightly borne, were never 
neglected. Every part of the house was 
subject to her supervision : the provision 
for a large family, and the constant enter- 
tainment of company, were accomplished 
with marvelous ease. Nor did she omit the 
work of her hands. Labor, the necessity 
of so many, the ungracious burden of some, 
the duty of all, in her took such a form of 
graceful dignity, that one could not choose 
but admire. Since her death, a friendly 
neighbor speaks of watching from her win- 
dow the daily walk to market, noting her 
elastic tread, her serene face, the faultlessly 
neat toilet, " seeming ready," as she phrased 
it, " to step into a courtly drawing-room," 
and added, that she wished no other pic- 



246 ChrisHcm jybman/iood. 

ture than the characteristic one her mem- 
ory had preserved. 

Her remarkable skill with her needle 
was constantly called in requisition, not 
only by her family, but used even in the 
short visits she sometimes made, where her 
ingenuity could double one's resources, and 
make even seeming worthlessness available 
to taste. These multiform cares were all 
assumed with such dignified ease, such ap- 
parent facility, that no one felt the burden 
or saw the strain ; the family accepted her 
as the type of woman ; the servants, with- 
out the premium of lightened labors and 
higher pay, chose to remain long, grudged 
no service to her mild demands, yielding 
in some cases an enthusiastic devotion to 
her character. 

In the higher aspects of family order, 
her faithfulness was preeminent. Highest 
of domestic privileges she ranked family 
worship. Her ardent spirit and loving 
care guarded it as faithfully from all dese° 
cration as ever vestal a sacred flame, and 
with her spirit of lofty devotion, and ever 



M. JT. averts. 



247 



ready and appropriate song, kept it above 
the dead level of a form. 

Few women so entirely identify them- 
selves with their husband's life and pursuits 
as Mrs. Everts did. She watched his health, 
not only for his comfort, but as it fitted him 
for work. She supplemented his pastoral 
labor in making calls and receiving appli- 
cations. Possessed of a remarkably facile 
pen, for the last fifteen years she carried on 
most of her husband's correspondence, 
which, with the certainty of an every-day 
mail of from one to five letters, was, of it- 
self, no inconsiderable labor ; but in addi- 
tion to this, she copied thousands of pages 
for publication. Every sermon preached 
was prayerfully listened to, and afterward 
discussed with reference to its suitability, 
its faithfulness, its probable success in win- 
ning some, in warning others, in up-build- 
ing all. None of the little cords of sym- 
pathy and confidence that bind pastor and 
people were by her unnoticed or uncared 
for, but held with a careful hand, and 
strengthened by every act. 

To her children Mrs. Everts was at once 



248 Christian Womanhood. 

mother and companion. She never exerted 
her powers of entertainment more than in 
her own home circle, and hours were very 
precious that she spent quietly there ; long 
rainy days that she was busied with her 
sewing, or rare evenings when neither 
public appointment nor stranger's call 
broke the privacy. Conversation never 
lagged, was neither dragged over the trivi- 
alities of gossip, nor tainted with unkindly 
venom, but, instructive and sprightly, chal- 
lenged thought and comment. She encour- 
aged and planned innocent amusements 
for her children, but believed those safest 
that could be enjoyed at home, or within 
the chosen circle of friendship. She incul- 
cated especially a personal responsibility in 
maintaining untarnished christian profes- 
sion in the choice of pleasures, deprecating 
the attempts of society to reconcile church 
and world, elements a Higher "Wisdom has 
declared essentially discordant, and advi- 
sing a deference to the general voice of the 
church, the utterance of centuries of expe- 
rience. 

She felt the liveliest interest in their 



M. K, averts. 249 

mental improvement, never too busy to aid 
the daily task, patiently going through the 
intricate puzzles of " geography, grammar 
and arithmetic," until her clear statement 
or suggestive question dispelled the cloud, 
and smiles chased tears. 

One feature of her domestic government 
deserves particular notice, as embodying a 
rare wisdom. The children were never 
reproved or criticised before others, even 
in the smallest particular of custom or cour- 
tesy. "We have never seen her gentleness 
so fired into indignation as by some liberty 
of criticism claimed in the freedom of 
family intercourse. If there was need of 
amendment, opportunity was sought for a 
private interview, and as the children grew 
older, the necessary reproof was often er 
given by note. She maintained that this 
delicacy, while it guarded the children's 
self-respect, made the recurrence of the 
fault less probable, and invested with ten- 
derness parental authority. 

I^ever was mother more wise and careful 
in cultivating a sense of religious respon- 
sibility. She was rewarded by the conver- 
16* 



250 



Christian Woma?i?wod. 



sion of all her children before they reached 
the age of twelve years. Then, in the for- 
mation of a consistent christian character, 
she was untiring in her efforts. The duties 
of private devotion, the obligation of church 
appointments, a winning example, and ac- 
tive efforts to influence others^ she con- 
stantly inculcated. One winter, when her 
son, then but a little boy, could not finish 
his work in time to join the family at 
breakfast, his mother always came with a 
little devotional book, and read to him 
while he ate, that in the pressure of study 
and other duties, he should not be hurried 
through the short days without any subject 
for religious thought. This little circum- 
stance is one of many kindred that attested 
the mother's devotion. 

Her reverential love for the Sabbath she 
carefully sought to cultivate in the family. 
For long years, until in turn outside duties 
called her away, it was her custom to gather 
the children in the afternoon for an exer- 
cise combining careful reading of the Bible, 
conversation, most frequently prayer, glean- 
ings from the religious papers, or some 



M. K. IJverts. 251 

suitable book, and before weariness could 
make any impression, a hymn would open 
the way for many more ; and thus to the 
children, even while . young, this mother's 
wise and loving ministry made the Sabbath 
a delight, and also holy to the<Lord. 

Busy without bustle, frugal without par- 
simony, generous without extravagance, 
dignified without hauteur, affable without 
familiarity, social without obtrusion, gen- 
tle without inefficiency, refined without fas- 
tidiousness, cheerful without levity, devout 
without ostentation — thus she appeared to 
her partial family. 




xvm. 

Church Life. 

il Axd now she hovers like a star, between 
Her deeds of love, her Saviour on the cross." 

SHE introduction of such a woman 
into a church or community could 
not fail of asserting itself by an 
' immediate and growing influence. 
There were many noble women in the 
church, who recognized Mrs. Everts' lofty 
christian character, and met her in glad 
cooperation, in maintaining church ap- 
pointments and efforts for up-building the 
cause. 

i She entered the Sabbath school again as 
a teacher, where her wonderful familiarity 
with the whole range of Scripture gave her 
peculiar facility, and, as ever before, her 
Bible-class room was a favored spot. Ex- 
perienced Christians loved to hear her ripe 



M. X. Hverts. 253 

expositions of Scripture; the younger mem- 
bers were drawn by her earnestness, and 
many unconverted enjoyed listening to 
Scripture truth, so pleasantly varied, attrac- 
tively and lovingly urged. * 

Naturally conservative, she never in- 
dulged in fanciful speculations on religion. 
It has been asserted that the highest type 
of mind begins by doubting every thing. 
Doubt seems indigenous to a certain order 
of mind. We have read of those who spent 
life in a vain contest with shadows — ever 
striving, yet never able to come to a know- 
ledge of the truth, and yet at the last, 
retracing their steps, accepted the simple 
faith of a child, finding they had overlooked 
truth they had sought. But is this superior 
mentality? Is genius, then, a monstrosity? 
Does large brain blind the eyes and warp 
the judgment? Daniel Webster, it is said, 
although not professing Christianity, never 
questioned the fundamental doctrines of 
the Christian religion — never tampered, in 
mazy speculation, with divine truth. 

We think that Mrs. Everts' well-balanced 
mind and clear judgment, sanctified by her 



254 Christian Womanhood. 

experimental religion, kept her from rocks 
on which so many have wrecked their faith. 
Mrs. Everts' place in the prayer meeting 
was always filled, and with unvarying punc- 
tuality. Her face seemed a reflex of the spi- 
rit of the meeting. She seemed to lose her 
individuality of thought in sympathetic 
communion, while at those rare intervals 
when she felt it her duty to speak in testi- 
mony of her faith, her dignified humility, 
her low tone charged with emotion, indi- 
cated at once the cross and the consistent 
cross-hearer. But in the music of the 
social meeting her rare musical gifts, her 
spirituality, a nice discrimination, and a 
wise familiarity with sacred song, enabled 
her to make this part of the service, so 
often neglected, a powerful aid in up-bear- 
ing the spirit of the meeting — in supple- 
menting prayer, in encouragement to duty, 
in the expression of joyful consecration, of 
penitence or praise. 

" The song, on its powerful pinions, 
Took every soul, and lifted it gently to heaven." 

Indeed, her songs, so well chosen, seemed 



M. K. averts. 2^ 

but the musical refrains of the services. 
As a sister, long known and honored 
in the church, who comes to sit where 
she may feel the sweet influences of 
the sanctuary, although she can rarely 
hear any thing that is said, expressing her 
particular sense of loss in Mrs. Everts' 
removal, remarked that her songs seemed 
to open to her the spirit of the meeting — 
she caught from them the thought of the 
speaker and the echo of the prayer. 

Her attractive, genial piety gave her pe- 
culiar access to the unconverted — to the 
young, the gay. There were several cases 
where she seemed the only religious influ- 
ence ; yet these she held for years by her 
prayers — her loving zeal, to some recogni- 
tion of the claims of a higher life. Religion 
seemed the natural emanation from her lips. 
Her familiarity with the Bible, and ever 
widening and deepening christian experi- 
ence, gave her speech a rich fluency ; then 
she broached the subject with such tact, 
that one could but listen, if they did not 
love the theme. She was frequently called 
upon in the more complicated cases of in- 



256 Ckristia?i Tfomanliood. 

quiry and doubt. But a short while before 
her death, during her husband's absence, 
and to supply his place, she responded to a 
call for christian direction from a gentle- 
man of position and influence, and there 
for hours she met his speculations, inqui- 
ries, and agonized doubts, with prayer and 
the Bible — the balm of Gilead and the 
name of the Great Physician. Among the 
many who sorrowed for her loss, this friend 
expressed his grief as for a dear relative. 

Her christian solicitude frequently found 
relief in letters, where distance intervened 
or meeting seemed inconvenient. Indeed, 
her letters of this kind were sufficiently 
varied and numerous to constitute a large 
correspondence in themselves. 

Her last and greatest work for the 
church deserves especial mention. For 
many years, she had shared with her hus- 
band much anxiety on the subject of a 
limited benevolence in the churches. The 
necessity of a church depending on the 
few rich to do her work of charity, and to 
wait on the call of public agents for motive, 
Mrs. E.'s ardent nature and cultivated con- 



M. IC. averts. 257 

science rejected. Spasmodic efforts that 
would be repudiated as the only method of 
progress in the ordinary business of life, 
she 'considered unworthy of religious de- 
pendence. She regarded benevolence un- 
der the rule of principle, as much as Sab- 
bath keeping, or the observance of church 
appointments, and the obligation resting 
on all Christians, to give, as they are pros- 
pered, as imperative as the provision for 
family comfort. 

To make practical some scheme which 
would educate the people in benevolence, 
became a study with both. Finally a plan 
was put in operation, which seemed to 
promise wel], but measurably failed for the 
want of energetic application. About a 
year before her death, while temporarily 
confined in her room by indisposition, her 
mind reverted to this subject with such 
pertinacity, and she saw the Way to success 
so plainly that she announced her deter- 
mination immediately to assume this re- 
sponsibility. Although many wondered 
as to Mrs. E.'s marvelous capacity for work, 
and some expostulated, she took the books, 
17 



258 Christian Womanhood. 

drew up appeals to the membership, 
contrived 'to make time for extra call- 
ing, and spent long evenings over the 
books of record, by her zeal and address 
advancing the system toward successful 
permanence. In no other work did she 
expend more effort or feeling ; and but the 
Sunday before her fatal sickness, her last 
appeal was distributed in the pews, which, 
invested now with the solemnity of her last 
public utterance, we give for perusal : 

11 To the First Baptist Church and Congregation : 

11 Dear Brethren and Friends, — Now that 
we are all here present before God, let us in- 
quire what are the claims of his precious cause 
upon us. This congregation may not generally 
know that in aiding Sabbath Schools, Missions, 
(home and foreign), Freedmen, Bible and Tract 
causes, this church has adopted a system of giv- 
ing, which, it believes, will re-act most power- 
fully for good upon ourselves, and most efficient- 
ly aid the cause of Christ. It is to give regularly, 
weekly, to these objects — just as we provide 
for our daily necessities, or the wants of our 
families. 

" It may not, in all cases, be paid weekly, but 
each one takes the list and says : for this I will 
give so much a week, for that so much — going 
through the card the church has prepared — 



M. K. JPverts. 259 

paying weekly, monthly, or quarterly, as may 
be convenient. In this way a steady stream is 
kept flowing into the treasury of the Lord, of 
that which he has given us, but which his cause 
requires. 

" The average of fifty cents a week, did the 
church and congregation cooperate, would sup- 
ply a very large amount to be distributed to 
Sabbath Schools, Missions, etc. While some 
may not be able to give more than five cents, or 
a dime, others, to whom their Lord has committed 
much, can give dollars, per week, and be much 
richer at the end of every fiscal year; for," 
" There is that scattereth and yet increaseth, 
and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, 
and it tendeth to poverty." 

" Eight months of the year have passed, and 
but a small portion of the church and congrega- 
tion has responded. The church, in good faith, 
has entered upon systematic giving, and has un- 
dertaken to do its own work without expending 
on agencies. If we fail to cooperate in this 
plan, the system becomes an excuse, and minis- 
ters to selfishness, while Christ is betrayed in 
the house of his friends. The Committee are 
assured that this people need only to know the 
method of the church, in regard to benevolence, 
to give their earnest cooperation. 

" M. K. Eveets." 

" Chicago, Sept. 1, 1866." 



XIX. 

Public Lii^e. 

11 If a single particle of matter affects the balance and 
state of the material world; much more a single mind, 
animated by noble intuitions, may attemper the thought 
and feeling of an age. ' ' 

VERY marked characteristic of 
| Mrs. Everts, was her warm and 

constant sympathy with the poor. 
1 Although always a resident of 
large cities, where frequent contact with 
misery serves to deaden the sensibilities 
of some ; although connected with public 
schemes of benevolence, where many 
merge their keen interest in individual 
cases, in a wholesale charity, she never 
refused to listen to the tale of distress. 
She would pause in the midst of perplex- 
ing business to see some needy applicant, 
and was always ready with sympathy, ad- 




M. J?, averts. 261 

vice, and material aid, and some few words 
of Christian solicitude. Through weeks of 
pressing cares, she would carry upon her 
mind a destitute case, until she could per- 
fect some permanent plan of relief. There 
was one who, from her extreme poverty and 
accumulated troubles, was known in the 
family as "poor Mary." Devout in her 
faith, cheerful and thankful, she won Mrs. 
Everts' warm regard; and in her frequent 
visits, she rarely went away empty-handed. 
In her husband's severe illness, Mrs. E. 
gained for her the service of a kind and 
skillful physician. "When, with some help, 
and by great . exertion, she was able to put 
up a very small house, Mrs. E. used her 
influence with lumber men, to get dona- 
tions. And when, through the zealous ill- 
will of neighbors, the poor woman was 
cited to appear in court to answer for an 
alleged offence, Mrs. E. went through a 
driving storm to save Mary's character and 
procure her acquittal. Standing, in tears, 
over her lifeless body, " Ah," said she, " I 
never went away from this house but 



262 Christian Womanfiood. 

laughing, whatever my troubles, but now 
it's crying sorely." 

The University, for a time, bore heavily 
upon the exhausted finances of the denom- 
ination, and a large number of ladies of 
the different churches engaged in the 
work of collection, furnishing and pro- 
viding for such students as could ill meet 
their own expenses. This last phase of 
labor enlarged before them as they learned 
of many who sought an opportunity to fit 
themselves for the christian ministry, but 
were dependent on daily labor for support. 
To adequately provide for this class,- a 
society was formed under the name of the 
Ladies' Baptist Educational Society, of 
which Mrs. E. was chosen president. A 
great deal of correspondence was necessary 
to induce other churches through the 
State, to cooperate as auxiliary societies, 
in arrangement with applicants, solicitation 
of funds; also the preparation of formal 
appeals and reports, in which labors she 
shared. There were also occasions when, 
with other ladies, she attended conventions 
in the State, to engage attention for this 



C/iristtcm WomanJiood. 263 

society. She took earnest counsel with, 
her husband, as he labored for the Univer- 
sity, suggesting men and measures, with 
great wisdom. While he was engaged for 
an endowment, and in raising other large 
sums, she was staying" his hands with 
prayer, and in his success no one rejoiced 
more truly. 

Her first connection with the general 
benevolence of Chicago, was as a man- 
ager of the Orphan Asylum; but after 
a short service, she resigned her place to 
worthy hands, to satisfy the demands of 
urgent need in other directions. Very 
soon after Mrs. Everts' coming to the city, 
she was appointed one of the managers of 
the Home for the Friendless, which place 
she held some two years, as representative 
of the denomination, until other claims 
became more pressing, when she gave up 
her official connection with this popular 
established charity. 

The want of a Home for infirm and 
homeless women, was noticeable to any 
one studying the benevolent institu- 
tions of Chicago, and to make the 



264 ChrisHan Woman?iood. 

way clear, such propositions were made by 
a lady of the city to Mrs. E., who, with 
her, opened the matter to others, that a 
number of ladies effected an organization 
for this purpose, with which Mrs. E. main- 
tained connection only some eighteen 
months. Yet this institution was dear to 
her, as one of the most beautiful and sacred 
charities of the city, and it was with regret, 
often expressed, that, in obedience to duty, 
she withdrew from active participation in 
the board of managers, her name being 
retained as complimentary to her assist- 
ance in founding the institution. 

Her willingness to assume neglected re- 
sponsibilities, to supply deficiency by her 
efforts, was but another form of her self- 
abnegation. Xow, a good measure of suc- 
cess was guaranteed to this work, . and 
there was no lack of helpers, no want of 
public confidence. Her eyes, ever watch- 
ful, marked the missing link in the chain 
of charities ; her ear caught the Macedo- 
nian cry of a class that had always ap- 
pealed to her heart ; those driven by mis- 
fortune, neglect or poverty, to the commis- 



M. JT. JZverts. 265 

sion of society's unpardonable sin, then 
herded with vice and crime, rushing head- 
long to destruction. Mrs. Everts was a 
character not liable to be charged with 
visionary enthusiasm ; and her inherent 
reserve, and even rare delicacy, would have 
served as material causes to keep her 
mutely sympathetic with those whom 
worldly maxims have put under a ban. 
But she had attained the " freedom with 
which Christ makes free " from prejudice, 
and sinful errors. She had thought on 
Peter's vision, and understood the voice. 
" What God hath cleansed, that call not 
thou common." 

She had no sympathy with the cold 
public sentiment, and selfish policy of 
government, that would allow classes of 
the unfortunate and wretched to perish 
without attempted relief, as fallen leaves 
driven before the storms of passion, or as 
dust thrown off from the chariot- wheels of 
progress. She believed that justice is per- 
fected in mercy ; and that true mercy 
always ministers to holiness ; that the dis- 
tinctive and highest glory of Christianity, 
17* 



266 Christian Womanhood. 

is in seeking out and carrying balm of 
sympathy, relief, and hope, to humanity, 
left bleeding, comfortless and hopeless 
along the way-sides of life, by the world's 
philosophy, and the world's religion. She 
felt a tender grief and holy indignation at 
ministry or church, so wanting sympathy 
with Christ and the genius of the Gospel, 
as to speak indifferently of the woes 
of the fallen, or neglect provision for 
the " lost," Jesus Christ came to seek and 
save. But that it was no mild tolerance of 
vice that dictated her course and supplied 
her sympathy, we may judge from the fol- 
lowing article provoked by a shameless 
apologist : 

THAT " ERRING" CORRESPONDENT. 

TO THE EDITOR OF THE CHICAGO EVENING JOURNAL. 

" We doubt the expediency of your publishing 
the letter from an ' Erring Sister.' Would we 
give a hearing to shop-lifters, forgers, incendi- 
aries, highway robbers and murderers, pleading 
against the awards of the courts and public 
opinion, and seeking to win sympathy and toler- 
ance of their vocation ? Yet your ' Erring ' 
correspondent belongs to a class more dangerous 
to society, than any of these classes. The pre- 
vious article, written by a • lady,' seemed to us 



M. ' K. Uverts. 267 

very timely, and thrilled us by its startling ut- 
terances, which were calculated to awaken the 
just apprehension and vigilance of society ; 
while the rejoinder not only apologizes for the 
fearful crime, but pleads for it, as a necessity 
against which prayer and effort can not avail. 

" Still your correspondent might have been 
borne with if she had professed penitence, or 
purpose of reformation. But she does neither. 
She appears only as an apologist for her class 
and her sin. She appeals for sympathy, not in 
the remorse of penitence and the struggle of 
reformation, but in allowed, purposed, and de- 
fended wickedness. 

" We found in her apology, none of the pathos 
of penitence and virtuous resolve we had ex- 
pected from the editorial introduction to the 
articles, but a superficial sentiment oftener 
found to co-exist with the most hardened and 
hopeless vice. Her moral judgments, also, seem 
strangely confused. She shrinks with pharisai- 
cal horror from the idea of punishing the be- 
trayers of innocence and caterers to vice. She 
would " pluck her heart " from her immaculate 
bosom, if it harbored such a fiendish spirit of re- 
venge. But she expresses no horror at the 
perjured man who violates his marriage oath, 
covers his family with shame, appears before the 
world a hypocrite, and before heaven a vile 
transgressor. She even accepts the price vile 
men pay for the indulgence of their passions, as 
an offering of charity, and ranks them, next to 
the Sisters of Mercy, the friends of fallen 



268 Christian Womanhood. 

women. Such a friend is the vulture to the 
dove, the wolf to the lamb. Yet, in the per- 
verted moral sense of jour ' Erring ' corres- 
pondent, the quintessence of selfishness and 
baseness, is reckoned as charity, and, forsooth, 
entitling its dupe and- slave to the consideration 
and rewards of virtue. 

" She also misquotes the Scripture, in appeal 
for sympathy in continued sin. Our Lord's de- 
claration that a penitent loved much because for- 
given much, is turned into an apology for an im- 
penitent, that ' she sinned much because she 
loved much.' 

11 Also she pleads for the necessity of her vo- 
cation from its antiquity. The same plea is 
good for sin universally, as well as for specific 
forms of wickedness. Besides, your contributor 
seems to have an assured hope for her own and 
the salvation of all her class, without regard to 
reformation of life, or opportunity for repent- 
ance. The punishment for deeds done in the 
body, she does not seem to have much apprehen- 
sion of. She forgets the Scriptures, that warn 
against delusive apologies for sin, and declare 
that ' for these things the wrath of God cometh 
upon the children of disobedience ; ' and that 
exclude these classes of the vicious from the 
kingdom of heaven, and assign them their places 
in the ' utter darkness ' of eternal perdition. 

"M. K. E." 

In coming to Chicago, Mrs. Everts' sym- 
pathy for this unfortunate class was in- 



M. 1£. JEJverls. 269 

tensified by the more public life, which 
brought her in frequent contact with this 
phase of society. An asylum for Magda- 
lenes she recognized as a great need, and 
though, as she mentally gauged public 
opinion, she felt it to be the most arduous 
work of her public life, yet came to it with 
heroic purpose ; for, with retrospective 
wisdom, her friends understand now that 
her strength was beginning to droop under 
these accumulating burdens. A few ladies 
inaugurated this movement, constituted 
themselves into a society, and took a small 
house as a refuge. This soon becoming 
crowded, they obtained a large house, 
which, in turn, was soon filled ; and in two 
years after the opening of a home, by the 
advice and generous cooperation of some 
prominent citizens, they were enabled to 
purchase a suitable house and property, 
removed from the busy centre of the city. 
During the first year of occupancy, from 
the increasing number of applications, a 
hospital department became necessary. 
But some urged the almost impossibility 
of raising the amount, at that time. Mrs. 



270 Christian Womanhood. 

E. seemed animated by a remarkable 
faith and trust. She answered these timid 
ones, " the means necessary for this work 
of Christ, are in the hands of bis people ; " 
" hearts will be touched by our claim." 
While her family all left the city in the 
summer, she remained and gave herself up 
entirely to this self-imposed task. Within 
a week, a dozen carefully prepared letters 
were sent off to men of wealth, calls were 
made and repeated, until the necessary in- 
terviews were obtained. In addition to 
some printed resolutions, which were ad- 
dressed to the Common Council, Mrs. E. 
prepared a special petition, and finally the 
city was thoroughly canvassed to solicit 
building materials. To the measure of 
success, then attained, has been added 
since her death, a subscription of nearly 
§1,000 by the First Baptist church, and a 
donation of $1,000 by Miss S., herjife- 
lon^ friend. 



XX. 

Scattered Leaves. 

" Such letters as are written from wise men, are, of 
all their words, in my judgment, the best ; for they are 
more natural than orations and speeches, and more ad- 
vised than conferences or private ones. " 

|OHN"SEL, rebuke, affection, are, 
perhaps, as impressive when 
j committed to the pen, as when 
enforced by eye and lip ; the 
studied speech and permanent form in- 
vest letters with a dignity that the most 
careful utterance can not command, as 
k it dies on the air, only to be recalled in 
memory. In practical efficiency, letters rise 
above the labored essay, because borrow- 
ing theme, language, and illustration from 
daily life. It is no mere abstract truth 
evolved by patient thought in the retire- 
ment of a study, but the elucidation of life 




272 C?iristian 7Voma?ikood \ 

problems, coming with the intensity of 
need and experience, in the actual contact 
of mind and heart. 

Although letters here offered, were writ- 
ten in the scant leisure of a busy life, often 
in time when body and brain needed rest, 
without elaboration or revision, under the 
stress of circumstance, we find them full of 
golden wisdom, in the courage of the heart. 



Family Correspondence, 

4 ' Let me hereafter not miss at thy throne, one spirit of 
all these, 

"Whom thou hast given me here I I have loved them all 
like a mother. 

May they bear witness for me, that I taught them the 
way of salvation, 

Faithful, so far as I knew of thy word. * * * * 

Before thy face may I place them, 

Pure as they now are, but only more tried, and exclaim- 
ing with gladness, 

Father, lo ! I am here, and the children whom thou hast 
given me 1" 



M. JT. averts. 273 

To a little child, on self-control. 

11 Febkuary 26, 1865. — My precious little 
Daughter M., — Your mother was much pleased 
to have you request her to write you concerning 
your faults, for such a request makes me feel 
that you really wish to correct them. Persons 
who think they have no faults will not, of course, 
watch themselves, and pray for help to overcome 
them. You have, my dear child, a warm, affec- 
tionate heart, for which I thank God. You 
have also a quick temper, inclined to be irritable 
and impatient, which will give you some trouble. 
Of thisl will speak in this letter. Now it is no 
sin to have a temper, even a bad temper, because 
that is something we have had nothing to do with. 
The sin is in not controlling our temper. This, 
God will call us to account for. It is no credit 
to amiable people never to get angry, because 
they are not tempted. But it is great credit to 
persons who have a high temper to keep from 
showing an ugly spirit. Neither is there any 
temper so bad but that, with God's help, we can 
overcome it. But to do this requires daily effort 
and daily prayer. You know, when the Israelites 
went through the wilderness, God gave them 
manna enough to last one day, to make them 
feel their constant dependence upon him. So 
with us ; we can not do up our praying for a 
month, or even a week ; but day by day, and 
hour by hour, must obtain help from our dear 
heavenly Father. I trust your desire is to over- 
come every fault — you can do it, and, I hope, 
will do it. If you do, you will be a blessing to 



274 



C?irislian Woma?i?iood. 



your parents and family, who love you, and to 
all you have any thing to do with, and will be 
happy yourself; and aToOve all, will have the 
smile of your heavenly Father. To begin right, 
my darling must pray that a new heart be given 
her, then with that new heart will come new 
desires. It is out of our wicked hearts that bad 
tempers, angry words, and conduct come. With 
the new heart come love, joy, peace, patience, 
meekness. If you succeed, by God's help, in 
getting the complete control of yourself, you 
will be a great blessing to your dear brother and 
sisters.' If they see you trying, they will try ; 
if you fail, they may be discouraged. God bless 
you, my dear daughter, and help you to do right, 
and make you his dear child, prays 

M Your deeply attached 

" Mother." 

The power of consistent christian character, 

''Louisville, Nov. 9th, 1857. — Mr Dear 
Daughter E. — I have found it difficult to restrain 
my desire, or rather my pen, so great has been 
my desire to answer your last. Your last letters 
have given us considerable anxiety. You are 
placed in a new position — one of responsibility; 
having to decide questions which, if at home, 
would be decided by your parents. Our anxious 
inquiry is, how are you going to act in this new 
position? Is feeling, caprice or principle to 
govern you in all things ? Now we have great 
confidence in your conscientiousness, provided 
your conscience is kept in lively exercise by 



M. J?. Uverts. 



275 



God's Spirit. I do not think that naturally the 
devotional element is as strong in your character 
as in that of some whom you might be disposed 
to call " narrow-minded." With an independ- 
ence, good in its place, there is danger of your 
becoming latitudinarian in your religious views 
and practices, (of which, alas ! you see too much 
among those professing godliness,) unless you 
drink deeply at the Fountain of Truth. Now, 
if you read yourself as your Pa and myself sec 
you, your judgment will confirm what I have said. 
Let the divine wisdom, promised to all sincere 
suppliants at all times, lead you to acknowledge 
the Lord in all your ways, and he will direct your 
steps. One word, my dear daughter, about your 
imagined isolation while in school : you think, if 
at home, the same conduct would be injurious, 
and have the appearance of evil, which in your 
present position would be harmless. I think you 
wrongly judge. The thing contemplated is right 
or it is wrong. If wrong, no circumstances can 
make it right or expedient. As to your influence, 
I think you are laboring under a misapprehen- 
sion. You carry it every where ; in proportion 
as your mind is a leading one, your responsibility 
is proportionably enhanced. How many of those 
professors who you say went to the opera, would 
have gone, if you, for conscience sake (fearing 
lest your influence on the side of truth and right- 
eousness might be impaired), how many, I say, 
would have gone, if you, with all your love for 
music, had seen fit to decline ? You were known 
to be the daughter of a Baptist clergyman, who 



276 Ctiristian }To?nanhood. 

would be apt to take conscientious views of 
amusements and also a professor of the religion 
of Christ. Rather would I have you feel that 
jour influence, while among so many young ladies, 
is fearfully great, for good or ill. 

" Try to do them good. Let your standard be 
high. Be not regarded as an accommodating 
compromising Christian ; but, while your piety 
is cheerful, let it always be consistent. Do good 
as you have opportunity. Govern yourself in 
speech and conduct by the divine law. One thing 
more before I close, on the subjects touched in 
your letters. We think it altogether reasonable 
that you should go into the Sabbath school, as a 
teacher or pupil, once a day. If you have your 
afternoon until five o'clock, vou can easily do it ; 
and if you can decline, with good health, who 
would be found to honor that blessed institution." 

The christian law of amusements : 

" Louisville. February 4. 1859. — My dear 
dear Daughter, — In reference to our opinion 
on the subject of dancing, and our permission for 
vou to take lessons, I would say a few things. 
in the first place, we have to be governed in this 
and m many other things, by circumstances, and 
the public sentiment of those about us. In this 
part of the country, the voice of our churches is 
unanimous and loud against an amusement 
that they feel has been the means of spreading 
worldlmess whenever indulged in by members, 
and has led to the exclusion of many. For so 



M. £!. Averts. 277 

slight a benefit as might accrue to yourself, is it 
best to shock such a christian sentiment and im- 
pair our influence as Christians, by endorsing so 
doubtful an accomplishment ? Would it not 
come within the scope of the apostle's reason- 
ing, when he says, " If meat make my brother to 
offend, I will not eat meat while the world stand- 
eth," although before this he said he had a 
perfect right to do it. Were your Pa to give 
his consent for you to take lessons of a profes- 
sional dancing master, he would grieve a large 
number of brethren, and lend his influence to in- 
crease an evil which is growing among Christians. 
Now your Pa is not as blue as some on this sub- 
ject, and we think the reasons you give for tak- 
ing lessons, though magnified, are very plausible ;. 
yet, when we look at the train of evils which 
follow in the wake of this amusement : late hours, 
dangerous dressing, etc., we feel that it is quite 
safe to stand aloof from such indulgence. I will 
send you a tract on the subject, which your Pa 
says contains the argument, as he believes, 
against its use. 

General and religious interest 

" December 13, 1859. — My dear Daughter i 
I think you have complained with some reason 
of the fitful manner in which your letters have 
come. But, as usual, I am always full of busi- 
ness, and have been much hurried for some weeks 
in getting ready for winter. Have made almost 
every garment with my own fingers. .... We 



278 Christian Womanhood. 

hail jour letters with great pleasure ; write often 
and particularly. Are you improving in music ? 
Do you draw any? What languages do you 
study ? .... I am glad you write to Lizzie D. 
"We have left dear friends in L. Let us never 

forget them But it is getting late, and 

I must close soon. Tell me, dear child, how you 
are prospering religiously ? Is it well with thee ? 
Is thy soul prospering, and in health? Seek 
your Father's face, continually ; keep a tender 
conscience; live daily in the fear of the Lord. 
Dream not of peace without your Saviour's smile. 
Crucify self with its affections and lusts, and live 
for him who bought you. Accept much love 
from your Pa and sisters. God bless you. 
' Adieu, your loving 

" Mother." 

Mother's love and solicitude. 

"February 14, I860. — My dear M. — I sit 
down in the heat of the day, because it is time 
for you to hear from home, and I am unwilling 
to disappoint you. We are in the midst of meet- 
ings — this the third week they have been held. 
Before they commenced, our dear little W. offered 
himself for prayer, and on Sabbath week, the 5th 
instant, was baptized. I sometimes think he was 
converted two years ago. Pray that he may 
adorn his profession ; that he may be faithful 
unto death. He and A. B. were baptized to- 
gether. It was a solemn and beautiful scene. 
The candidates all appeared impressed with the 



M. jBT. Averts. 



279 



seriousness of the profession they were about to 
make. Last Sabbath night five more were bap- 
tized — two ladies and three youths from the 
Bible class and Sabbath school. The children 
sang as the candidates went in and came out of 
the water. Pray in earnest for the success of 
the truth and the humbling of the hearts of sin- 
ners. 

" I wish to hear about your own religious ex- 
perience, my dear child. Are you walking in 
the light of God's countenance? Have you a 
returning consciousness that you are a child of 
God ? Now your pa and I have much solicitude 
on that point, and we long to hear from your own 
lips that, though unworthy, you believe you are 
a follower of the Lamb. Open your heart to us. 
If you were to be suddenly removed, how much 
our sorrow would be alleviated by knowing that 
your doubts had all passed away, and that you 
were rejoicing in your Saviour's smiles. . 

" I have lived many years — have had a large 
proportion of worldly blessings, and can testify 
that godliness sweetens every worldly cup of 
prosperity, extracts the bitter from the cup of 
adversity, and gives joy and peace in view of eter- 
nity. . . . We shall be so glad to see your face, 
and have our circle once more complete. God 
bless you, dear child, prays 

" Your fond Mother." 



280 Christian Womanhood. 

Importance of symmetrical christian character. 

<; February 28, I860. — My dear Daughter, 
I sit down in haste this morning, because anx- 
ious about you, on account of your long silence. 
. . . We have been much engaged, here for some 
weeks, having had meetings every night, except 
Saturday, for four or five weeks. The time I 
usually take for writing has been thus occupied, 
so that I am indebted to quite a number. 

" We believe you are a good scholar, and win 
the ^ approbation of your teachers. I am very 
anxious that lovely traits of character shall keep 
pace with your scholarly acquirements. 

" I was very much impressed on Sabbath, while 
reading 1 Cor. xv., where the apostle tells the 
Corinthians that their object should not be to 
please themselves, but others, for their edifica- 
tion, even as Christ pleased not himself. How 
disinterested will the gospel doctrines, received 
into our hearts, make us ! Let us try, my dear 
child, to attain this most excellent virtue. 

" On Thursday last, we, with other Christians, 
observed the day as one of special prayers for 
colleges and institutions of learning. 1 listened 
in the afternoon to a discourse from Dr. Rice, at 
the University, from these words : ' Whether ye 
eat or drink, or whatever ye do, do all for the 
glory of God.' He spoke of the importance, to 
every young person, of an aim in life— how little 
could be accomplished without it. etc. ; then com- 
mended the text as the most lofty aim — the glory 
of God. He traced it in all things to be a talis- 
man to keep us from sin, and to prompt us to all 



M. JT. Everts. 281 

obedience. I commend this aim to you; let it 
guide you every day, and every hour of the day, 
and you will never go very far astray. 

" Your fond Mother." 

Woman 1 s duty to herself. 

" March 1, 1860. — Very dear Daughter, — 
* * * I was reading an extract from the work 
of a distinguished English lady, who said that 
every young lady should be taught to excel hi 
art-education, trade, or housekeeping, so as to 
place herself above want and dependence, in case 
of any reverse. Our land is full of such reverses, 
and I want my daughters to belong to a class 
that can help themselves. We still say, use your 
pleasure about studying another year at Albion. 
"We wish much to have you with us, but will not 
interpose a single barrier to your progress, if you 
see fit to remain at school. 

" As to visiting, we think you have been so 
long from home, that we have the first claim 
upon you. It is our intention to give you an 
opportunity to improve your talent for drawing 
and painting. This will be expensive. You 
have had fine opportunity in traveling the last 
year, besides spending seven or eight months 
with L. It seems, therefore, scarcely proper 
that we should, under the circumstances, incur 
the additional expense ; and if you leave school, 
we want you with us, to add another charm to 
our family circle. I begin also to feel some 
desire to relieve myself from so large an amount 

18* 



282 Christian 7i r oma?ihood . 

of care as I have had for much of my life, and 
allow you to share it with me — thus securing 
more leisure for self-improvement, and for doing 

good to others 

" Your fond. Mother." 

Three letters, giving to a child, the ideal of 
manhood. 

11 July 28, 1861. — My darling Son, — Your 
letter reached me yesterday, and was a great re- 
lief, inasmuch as you informed me of your safe 
arrival, and seem to be enjoying yourself, and 
making yourself useful. We miss you very 
much, and I find myself thinking every little 
while : ' Well, now it is time for Willie to be 
home,' and then comes the thought that you are 
so far away. How do you like turning, stack- 
ing, and drawing hay? I always enjoyed the 
odor of new mown hay, it is so fragrant. I hope 
the rain has not spoiled it for your uncle. You 
have now a taste of the first employment assigned 
to man. Adam was put into the garden to dress 
and keep it. Cain also was a tiller of the ground. 
It is an employment calculated to promote health 
of body and tranquility of mind, hence you ex- 
pect persons so employed to be well and con- 
tented. I am glad that the little girls enjoy 
your society so much ; it is like Christ to make 
others happy, you will be sure to be so your- 
self. Give my love to them, and also their little 
cousins. . . . The boys are all well, I believe. 
When I see them sitting about, with nothing to 



M. JT. Uverls. 283 

do, I feel sorry, and wish they had the opportu- 
nity to be usefully employed that you have. I 
trust you will grow in grace as well as in 
strength ; that you daily draw your spiritual 
strength from the skies, in communion with God, 
prayer, and reading the Scriptures. Let your 
light shine every where ; prove the excellency 
and beauty of religion in your own walk and con- 
versation. Accept love from all the family. 
We will give you a hearty welcome when you 
return. 

" From your devoted 

" Mother." 

" Chicago, August 14, 1861. — My precious 
Son, — Your letters are highly prized and very 
regular. Mine would have been equally regular 
had I not been quite unwell, and much engaged 
with company. We feel relieved to know 

that you are well, and learning so much 

We are glad that you are learning to milk. I 
want you to be ambitious to be able to do what- 
ever you can in a practical way ; should you be 
a scholar, all this kind of acquirement will be an 
accomplishment. Some scholars have much un- 
common sense, and very little common sense ; 
thus they are mere children in every thing of a 
practical character. We are also gratified to 
know that you are making such progress in read- 
ing. Pa is more and more anxious that you 
should be a historian." .... 



284 Christian Womanhood. 

" Chicago, August 19, 1861. — My precious 
Boy, — How precious you can not know, and, 
perhaps, never may. We are so glad to know 
that you are able to work longer, which indicates 
increasing power of endurance. You know the 
saying : ' A sound mind in a sound body,' that is 
necessary to complete manhood. He is only 
half a man who has the splendid intellect, but a 
body frail and feeble. God never meant it to be 
so ; and if we follow out the laws of our physical 
being as he has laid them down, it will not be 
so. We are glad also that you have so pleasant 
a companion as your Uncle Charles to work 
with. An intelligent, genial gentleman to work 
with is a great advantage to a little boy." . . . 
u Your fond 

" Mother." 

Solemn queries and warnings. 

"Sabbath Afternoon, October 1, 1862. — 
My dear Daughter, — Ever since last Sabbath 
morning I have had a desire to address a line to 
you, but have delayed for want of an opportunity. 
Last Sabbath, I was greatly pained to see you 
decline taking the elements of our Lord's broken 
body, as it passed you in the pew. Why you 
did it, and how long you have been so doing, I 
know not. It may be that the Scripture : ' He 
that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and 
drinketh damnation to himself,' may have deterred 
you, feeling that in many things, as a Christian, 
you came short. If, however, you rightly inter- 



M. JS:. Averts. 285 

pret that passage, and 70a are an humble and 
sincere follower of the Saviour, you need never 
be kept from his table. Your worthiness is in 
him, and no number of good works, without his 
mediation and grace, can recommend you to God. 
But staying away from the Lord's table is no 
way to make yourself more worthy of his favor. 
I thought, what if my child should be suddenly 
called to die, what would she do if that precious 
Saviour, the emblems of whose death she had 
just allowed to pass her untouched, should refuse 
to befriend her and go with her through the dark 
valley ? What if, in that dread trial-time, he 
should fail to appear as her advocate ? "What- 
ever is your state of mind, you are on dangerous 
ground, and should arouse as from a death-slumber. 
If you have lost a sense of acceptance with God, 
you should lose no time in humbling yourself, 
and getting low at the Master's feet, for neither 
safety nor happiness is in your present condi- 
tion. If you do not think you have ever expe- 
rienced the love of God, then surely you should 
hasten to him, and, with the publican, cry : ' God 
be merciful to me, a sinner.' Be in earnest to 
be a whole hearted Christian. There is a fatal 
error of our times — the fancy that if people 
have once had an experience, and have joined the 
church, all is well. Will you not, for your own 
sake, for the good you may do in the family, for 
the honor you may do the cause of the blessed 
Redeemer, make a fresh start, and resolve, with 
Esther, ' I will go in unto the king, and if I 
perish, I perish.' Bring your whole heart, and 



286 C?irislia?i JVoman/iood . 

lay it on the altar, for he has said : ' Thou shalt 
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and 
all thy soul.' If you do this, you will know 
what pure peace and happiness are ; with- 
out it, you may drink at all the cisterns of earth, 
but will find them empty and unsatisfying. Let 
me know your feelings, either by note or conver- 
sation, for we are criminal in being ignorant of 
each other's state religiously. God bless and 
guide you into all truth and duty, prays 
" Your affectionate 

" Mother." 

To a little daughter — of general interest, and 
particular solicitude : 

"W., 1865. — My dear little Daughter, — 
Your Pa and I think much of you during our ab- 
sence, and would be so glad to have you with us 
if it were best. The country is exceedingly beau- 
tiful now. The trees have put on their beautiful 
spring dress, and many of them are covered with 
blossoms. The singing of the birds and the 
peeping of the little chickens fill the air with 
cheerful sounds. You would enjoy the stay at 
W. very much, I know. There is a large 
apple-tree in Uncle W.'s garden, it is a beauti- 
ful sight, you feel as though you would like to 
have it always to look at. Where I sit, I can 
see a lilac bush, just by the window, that has 
begun to bloom. How beautiful is the world in 
which God has placed us ! Surely, as all nature 
mutely praises Him, our hearts and lips should 



M. K. Uverls. 287 

not be silent. Maggie writes me that you are 
getting on pleasantly at home ; it can not be 
otherwise, when each contributes his and her part 
towards the general §tore of happiness. Try to 
please,- and always obey your Aunt M., and be 
careful, by kind attentions, to make your Uncle 
C. comfortable and happy. I believe you will 
vie with each other in trying to bless home, so 
doing, living for others, God will smile on you. 
I have thought of you as you were, probably, at 
school, or going ; at home, taking your music les- 
son, sewing, reading, going to prayer-meeting, 
attending Sunday school and church, and prayed 
our Heavenly Father to be with and bless you at 
all these times. I want you to commit yourself 
to the guiding hand of that Father, not only in 
words, but in your heart, each day and hour. Do 
not do any thing which your conscience tells you 
He will disapprove ; and try to do all that you 
know He would have you do. In school, use 
your advantages, that you may improve the mind 
He has given you, and which you are to use for 
His glory. At home, in your intercourse with 
the family, act, in all things, as God would have 
you act, having the high motive before you, 
always to please him ; and when you have an op- 
portunity to do good, do it. If you live, then 
your peace will be ever flowing like a river ; you 
will feel the strength that proceeds from the 
strength of the strong One, which will more than 
make amends for all your weakness. God bless 
you, my dear child, pray your fond parents. 

" Your loving Mother." 



288 CJirisUa?i WomanJiood. 

Two letters of home items, and fond sympa- 
thy for the absent : 

11 August 28, 1866. — My^Dear Husband and 
Love, — It is one of my greatest pleasures to sit 
down and write to you. I would really love to 
do it every day, were I not whirled along so 
irresistibly as not to leave time to do what I 
like, but what must be done. It makes me so 
happy to think that you are all enjoying your- 
selves, and drinking in health ***** 
The friends, generally, are well. M., the younger, 
is still here, and is gaining in health. We four, 
at present, compose the family, although we 
have been very seldom alone during the month. 
Yesterday was a charming Sabbath, and very 
delightful was it to sit in the sanctuary. Dr. G., 
who, by-the-by, inquires very affectionately for 
you, preached, though not very strong, from the 
words, ' All Scripture is given by inspiration of 
God.' It was a most interesting and profitable 
discussion of the divine origin of the Bible. He 
treated it very much as the writers treat the 
1 Evidences,' but there was great freshness, beau- 
ty, and power, in the discussion of it. In the 
'evening he was on the evidence of the divine 
authority of the Scriptures, drawn from the ef- 
fects it has produced, and is producing 

His views of the progress of the race in truth 
and light, are very hopeful. It seems to me the 
1 truth as it is in Jesus,' has winged itself with a 
new power, and, as Dr. G. says, Christ is the 
central figure in the world's history, challenging 



M. K. Averts. 289 

all intellects, and all pens. God, in Christ, re- 
conciling the world unto himself, strikes me with 
unwonted force and power, and, I believe, is 
doing so, generally. It seems to me, that the 
idea of God as a living Father, never before took 
such possession of my soul — surely the cross is 
the world's great magnet — would that we were 
drawn by it so powerfully as to be raised 
above the common plane of human life. The 
brethren inquire, very affectionately, after you, 
and send their love. 

" Chicago, August 20, IS66. — My Dearest 
Husband, — How much joy the reception of 
your letter gave me last week. And the breth- 
ren are all so glad to hear from you — that you 
are doing well and improving. Yesterday, Mr. 
G. gave us an excellent sermon in the morning, 
and Mr. F. in the evening. At night, the house 
was literally full — all available seats being 
taken. The morning congregation was also very 
large. Our prayer-meetings are well attended, 
and very interesting ; several rose for prayer last 
week. The young people show considerable . 
earnestness, and I trust the Lord, in answer to 
many prayers, will descend, in mighty power, in 
our midst. * * * * * * 

" What would I not give to look in upon you 
all in your camp life ! Tell me some particulars. 

" To-day is N.'s birth day — let us pray that, 
with increasing years, she may grow in love and 
devotion to the blessed Saviour. * * * * 

" But I must draw to a close. Ask dear W. 

19 



290 



Christian 7V % oma?i?iood . 



if he can not have a letter to meet M. at Fair 
Haven ; it will please her so much. 

M Dearest husband and son, how glad I shall 
be to see you ; get all the health you can ; come 
back strong and vigorous, and we shall praise the 
Lord, and rejoice in his never-failing goodness. 
I am so happy to know that your nervous sys- 
tem is gaining tone. Converse with nature in 
her solitude, and breathing her untainted air, 
could scarcely fail to produce such an effect. , 

" God bless and keep you all. 

"Your loving Wife." 

The last letter to any member of her family — 
affectionate, interested, suggestive : 

" Chicago, August 28, 1866. — Dear A. and 
Co., — You do not know how much happiness I 
feel in reading of your pleasure, as you pursue 
your delightful trip. It seems to me, that a 
Christian's joy should be far keener than a world- 
ling's, who sees no God in any thing, but rests 
entirely in His works. The one looks out lov- 
ingly on every beautiful scene — on all that is 
grand and siblime in His works — and exclaims 
with ecstacy of adoration, ' My Father made them" 
all !' Beautiful world ! bounteous Benefactor ! 
I looked over the map this morning, 
and have traced your wanderings ; it was cer- 
tainly much wiser to take the course you decided 
upon. So far as I can discover, the railroad 
route is not very direct to Fair Haven from the 
White Mountains. Sometimes on the past glo- 



M. 1C. JEJverts. 291 

rious Sabbath I imagined you at the mountains, 
sometimes at Fair Haven. "Where were you ? 
Dr. Gregory preached for us. His subject : 
" The inspiration of the Scriptures, and its won- 
derful power in regenerating the world — its lit- 
erature — governments — society — to say nothing 
of its transforming power on individual hearts." 
I would like to tell you a good deal about it had 
I time. Pa, Willie writes, has made a sudden 
move to return with Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs. "We 
shall look for them the last of this week. I do 
hope my dear husband will come home greatly 
improved in health. Pray that it may be so, for 
he comes into such great responsibilities. We 
have not been alone since you left until this 
week and a day of last. I am now giving most 
of my time to the Refuge. Yesterday went to 
see Capt. P., at the boat, to see if he could use 
influence to get in lumber from lumbermen. Not 
knowing any here in that line, he offered to give 
us five cords of wood. Was he not kind ? In 
the morning another gentleman, whom we 
went to see about bricks, without asking gave us 
four tons of coal— $10 per ton. I attended a 
most interesting meeting at the Refuge Sabbath 
afternoon. Mr. K. and S., Mrs. W. and myself 
were there. It was like a revival meeting. 
You can help by prayer, that God may open 
hearts to put up the building we so much need. 
Mr. R. spent last evening with us. He re- 
mained quite long and told me of his history, his 
trials, etc., which he thinks have drawn him 
nearer to God in a trust that he has never known 



292 Christian W o?na?ihood . 

before. ! in how many ways do trials beset 
us! Every heart knows its own bitterness. It 
is a great privilege to speak words of sympathy 
and cheer to these young men away from all 
sweet and soothing home influences. But I may 
be wearying you. Saw M. yesterday. The 
dear baby is very thin and pale, but hopes he may 
survive as the season is so far advanced." 



Christian Condolence, 

What gem hath dropped and sparkles on his chain ? 
The tear most sacred, shed for others 1 pain, 
That stands at once, bright, pure, from pity's mine, 
Already polished by the hand Divine. 

To a sister on the death of her father . • 

" November 10, 1861. — Very dear Sister, — 
"We were all thrown into surprise and sadness 
yesterday by the startling information from S. 
and Mi that your dearly beloved father is no 
more. We had always felt that he was one who 
from his constitution and habits, might be spared 
many years. And now we wait with anxiety 
the particulars of his sudden death. I can sym- 
pathize most heartily with you, dear A. Three, 
nearly four years have elapsed since I too was 
called to lay in the tomb a father, than whom 
none could be more dear. who. in the absence of 



M. £". Uverls. 



2 93 



a mother, for nearly twenty-five years had been 
both father and mother to his children. You 
have every thing to comfort you in your bereave- 
ment, while your heart bleeds at every pore. He 
died a Christian, and soon you will be forever re- 
united to him. You were always a dutiful and 
affectionate daughter, and therefore have only 
comforting thoughts of your intercourse with 
him. 

" How kind was Providence in allowing you to 
spend in his society so many of the last months 
of his precious life. It is certainly remarkable, 
and will always be to you the source of the most 
profound satisfaction. Dear sister, I know that 
while you mourn you do not rebel ; that inspirit 
you say, ' the cup which my Father hath given 
me, shall I not drink it? Shall I receive good at 
the hands of the Lord, and shall I not receive evil ?' 
Jesus will support you. He has been with you in 
every trial and will not desert you now. Cast 
' your burden upon Him. His strong arm will 
bear you up. I wish I could pillow your head 
upon my heart while you weep out your sorrows. 
You seem like an own dear child to me. How 
glad I would be to see you and mourn with you." 

Sympathy of christian friends to a stranger 
upon the death of her son : 

"Febbuaby, 1866. — My dear Mrs. K. — I 
write at the request of a few of the members of 
the First Baptist Church, to accompany a suit of 
mourning which they beg you to accept as a 



294 Christian Womanhood. 

slight expression of their sympathy with you in 
your sore bereavement. The precious son you 
mourn, and who was your heart's treasure, was 
also most highly prized in the Church, and is 
mourned as a great loss to- ourselves and the 
common unity. We pray that life may spring 
from his death in the conversion of many who 
admired his noble christian example, and that 
his dear parents and sisters may be comforted 
with the consolation that the Spirit alone can 
impart. God bless you my dear sister ; and when 
this checkered life is ended, may you, with the 
dear ones gone before, be welcomed to the 
regions of the blest, to be forever with the Lord, 
is our prayer. 

Consolation to an intimate friend upon the death 
of her father : 

u September 7, 1866. — Very dear Sister 
D., — I have just learned through M*** of 
your deep and sudden affliction, and my mind 
is carried back to the time when I too stood be- 
side the death-bed of a dear father. How great 
this sorrow is, only those know who have ex- 
perienced it. I would sit down by your side as 
did the friends of the patriarch, and in silence 
blend my tears with yours in sympathetic grief. 
But I am rejoiced, my dearly loved friend, to 
know that the Great Comforter, the never-failing 
Consoler, is with you, whispering to your heart 
heavenly consolation ; that you have a long-tried 
Friend to whom you can go in your bitterest 



M. K. averts. 29.5 

grief. He will never fail you — will be with you 
in six troubles, and in the seventh will not for- 
sake you. It is his loving hand that has prepared 
this cup, bitter though it be. Trust where you 
can not trace this hand, and say the ' cup my 
Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?' 

" I rejoice that you have so much evidence of a 
gracious change in your departed parent. This 
consolation must be to you an unspeakable bless- 
ing — how much deeper would be your grief were 
this wanting. If he has been prepared by God's 
Spirit, your separation is only for a few years at 
most, and a blissful re-union that knows no 
breaking up is the glorious prospect. Let the 
comfort of the G-ospel abound to both yourself 
and dear E * * *, in whose affliction I deeply 
sympathize. Remember the High Priest who is 
touched with all the sorrows of His dear children, 
who counts your sighs and bottles up your tears. 
He calls Himself also the Father of the father- 
less, bids you not be afraid, for He is with you 
and your God. 

14 "When through the deep waters I cause thee to go, 
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow ; 
I will be with you, your trouble to bless, 
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress. 

"When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie 
My grace all sufficient shall be your supply ; 
The flames shall not hurt thee, I only design 
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine." 

"Dear sister, I commend you and the dear 
weeping circle to God ; and the word of His 



296 C?i7*islian Woman7iood. 

grace, which is able to sustain and comfort you. 
May it be a sanctified sorrow, and may the dear 
son who mourns, hear a voice in this affliction 
calling him to higher hopes and pursuits than he 
has ever before known. 

"Accept Mr. E.'s tenderest sympathy for 
yourself, sister and brother." 



Occasional Counsels. 

11 She to many spirits gave 
A revereuce for the true, the pure, 

The perfect, that has power to save, 
And make the doubting sure." 

Written to a young man of great prom- 
ise, at a crisis of temptation ; of which he 
says : " This was written on my departure 
to College, and whatever of genuine piety - 
I have enjoyed since then, I attribute to 
these words :" 

"My dear young Brother, — On the eve of 
your departure from us I feel impelled to chat 
with you a little while on paper, inasmuch as my 
heart yearns over you as a youthful disciple of 
our Lord and Savior. Having been from fourteen 
years of age an unworthy follower of my Re- 



M. K. Everts. 



297 



deemer, I know something by experience of the 
conflicts and triumphs of a child of G-od. 

" Your experience will be varied, in conse- 
quence of having a heart depraved and not wholly 
subjugated to the will of God. Then you 
will be buffeted by the adversary of your 
soul, and will often be made to doubt your 
own piety and God's faithfulness. If Satan can 
by any means cause you to fall or stumble in 
your course, he will surely do it. He will find 
out your most vulnerable point, and make his 
attacks where you are weakest. You will, 
therefore, need to be watchful and prayerful, for 
if you neglect either, your defection from duty 
and consequent loss of religious enjoyment will 
certainly follow. When you read the narrations 
of the Bible, remember they were written for 
our warning, that we might see as in a glass the 
image of what we might become if we yield to 
temptation and are left of God to ourselves. 
Encourage a feeling of constant dependence upon 
your Heavenly Father, dread to take a step 
without His guidance and spirit ; so shalt thou 
have a pillar of cloud and fire to light, guide and 
cheer thee in thy journey through this wilderness 
world. It is your privilege to enjoy much, yea, 
to be exceeding joyful as a Christian ; but this 
must result from communion with Heaven. The 
joy of the Lord is designed to be the strength of 
His people. Therefore rejoice ; give thanks in 
every thing ; even if trials come, try to see a 
Father's hand in every event of your life ; be- 
lieve that He will cause all ihinas to work to- 

19* 



2g8 



Christian Womanhood. 



gether for good to those who love Him. ' In all 
your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct 
your steps.' 

" May you be blest in all your undertakings ; 
be cheered in all your difficulties ; be guided in 
all your perplexities ; be strengthened in all your 
weakness ; be enlightened where you are igno« 
rant, and come off more than conqueror through 
Him that loved us. 

" Will you not write, as often as once a month, 
detailing your religious experience, joys, tri- 
als, temptations and victories ? 'T will afford 
us much pleasure to reply, and aid you if we may 
be able, by counsel and encouragement. In 
concluding this note I would assure you of an 
interest in our prayers. May you always honor 
that precious cause you have espoused, and feel 
that rather than dishonor it, you would prefer to 
have vour life cut off from among the living. 

" May Heaven's richest blessings distil upon 
your head. Your true Christian Friend." 

The following letter was addressed to the 
daughter of an esteemed friend, member 
of the Church, on the eve of her departure 
to Europe, for perfecting her education : 

" My dear L. , — I can not forbear writing a few 
parting words expressive of my affection for you, 
and my deep interest in your present plans and 
future welfare, both temporal and spiritual. I 
know your desire to make the most of yourself; 



M. K. Uverls. 



299 



to cultivate the talents God has committed to 
your keeping. The sermon last night seemed to 
be very suitable as a farewell, holding up a great 
purpose and aim in life, without which any life 
is a failure. What the cause of Christ needs in 
the world is consecrated talents, energies, wills. 
Having these, the Church would appear bright 
as the sun, clear as the moon, and terrible (to 
the enemies of righteousness) as an army with 
banners. Shall we have it ? Are we praying 
for it ? In what a remarkable age are we living. 
As Longfellow says : 

" To be living is sublime." 

"Are God's people awake to the idea? There 
seems to be something in the way of the onward 
progress of the Church to perfect victory. Wide 
doors are open asking for advance. Will she 
heed the openings of Providence, or will she be 
recreant to her high mission ? My dear young 
friend, are you conscious of a lofty purpose to 
improve your powers and qualify yourself with 
the Divine blessing for greater usefulness ? Is it 
for Christ's sake ? Are all to be laid on His 
altar, of attainments, energies and influence ? 
If so, every study you take up will be dignified 
and elevated ; your own soul will be drawn God- 
ward, and your whole being sublimated. 

" Do you think, dear L., that we half appre- 
ciate the Scripture, which says that if we are 
Christ's disciples 'we are no longer our own ; 
but have been bought with the price, and that 
we are to glorify Him in our bodies and spirits, 



3°° 



Christian Womanhood, 



which are his V Do not receive this as a re- 
ligious homily ; an exhortation rather suitable for 
the occasion. It is merely the expression of a 
heart which receives for itself the suggestions 
made to you. In the passing of time, my dear 
girl, long before you return, my lips may be 
silent, my pen fall powerless from my hand. If, 
then, these are the last words I may be permitted 
to utter to you, I would say let your motto be 
11 Consecration ." Christ in every thing: in study, 
in recreation, in the family, the social circle, the 
Church and the world. Be a positive Christian. 
There are too many negatives, if such a condition 
is possible. Make your mark for Christ. Have 
a holy ambition to let your influence as a Chris- 
tian tell every where, and in all the varying cir- 
cumstances in which Providence may place you. 
To do this, in this thoughtless, sinful, tempting 
world, will need constant supplies of grace, all 
of which is promised. Receive and trust it. 
May your communion with Christ be so intimate 
that you may feel his hand holding, leading and 
guiding you. Dear L., I commend you to him 
and the word of his grace, which is able to keep 
you. May you have a pleasant and safe voyage, 
be prospered and returned safely, is my prayer." 

Mes. E. often employed her pen in ap- 
peals for private and public charities. Al- 
most a score of such letters were known to 
have been written during the last few 
months of her life ; but as copies were not 



M. JT. JPrerts. 301 

kept, and parties addressed have not furnish- 
ed the originals, only a specimen is given. 

* ' Good is no good, but if it be spend, 
God giveth good for none other end. " 

To a long esteemed friend, absent at a crisis 
in the building enterprise of the First Bap- 
tist Church, 

" Chicago, January 30, 1865. — DearBrotheb 
T., — You will wonder at receiving this line from 
me ; but when I tell you of our great anxieties 
and fears in connection with our church enter- 
prise, and the need we feel of the counsel and 
sympathy of our tried friends, no apology will 
be needed, I know, for taxing your time. We 
have come to the Red Sea, and our wisest mem- 
bers, indeed the members generally, think they 
hear the voice, ' Go forward.' But how ? is 
the question which at present troubles us. To 
go on and incur a heavy church debt would be 
greatly dishonorable to us as a church, besides 
impairing most seriously our usefulness and en- 
dangering our peace. Mr. E. has been pressed 
in spirit, seeing but one way to meet our re- 
sponsibilities, and not knowing whether there 
will be enough of self-sacrifice and devotion on 
the part of the members to carry it out. He 
has tried to impress upon the church our entire 
dependence upon God, who can dispose hearts so 
that the house we are rearing for His glory may 
be dedicated free of debt. This week two prayer 



302 Christian }V m oma?ihood . 

meetings have been appointed with this object 
specially in view. 

" You see why we wish you were here to share 
these burdens, and strengthen us with your wisest 
counsels. Mr. E. S. S. proposed a plan to meet 
the emergency, the other day, which many regard 
with great favor. It is to get an accurate esti- 
mate of the whole cost of completing the church, 
sidewalks, fences, etc., allowing a margin, and 
then get subscriptions to cover the whole, half 
to be paid in six months and half in two years, 
in notes without interest ; then raise money on 
the last half, so as to have funds in hand to pur- 
chase to greater advantage, which would suffice 
until the first part of the subscription became 
due. He agrees to give $ 1,000, payable in four 
quarterly payments, and is so certain that the 
work should go immediately forward as to signify 
his willingness to borrow the money to pay his, 
should it be necessary to complete the work. A 
few brethren whom the Lord has abundantly fa- 
vored will turn the scale, probably, so to their 
decision many are looking with prayerful inter- 
est. Need I say, dear brother T., you are one of 
those brethren. Mr. E. feels that it is probably 
the last great enterprise he will be connected 
with — it may be so in your case. Would it not 
be pleasant in this great city of the North-west, 
to have a monument of the wisdom, self-denial 
and devotion of our church, which may be an 
example worthy of those who come after us ? 
Can you not be back this week, to be present 
next Sabbath morning ? or if that is impossible, 



M. 2t". JEverls. 



3°3 



will you signify the largest amount you will be 
willing to do in case the whole sum (say $34,000) 
shall be secured ? 

" We await you reply with hope. God bless 
you, dear brother, is our prayer." 



^Religious Solicitude and Counsel. 

" Therefore, child of mortality, love thou the merciful 

Father ; 
Wish what the Holy One wishes, and not from fear but 

affection. 1 ' 

To her husband's brother, long an inmate of 
the family. 

" April 7, 1850. — Dear Brother S., — Your 
religious welfare has been to me a subject of 
much interest, particularly for the few past 
months. I hoped much from the means of grace 
made use of among us this winter ; but these you 
did not avail yourself of. The Lord prospered 
you remarkably this fall, and then it would have 
seemed that His goodness should have led you 
to retrace your steps, and to have called with 
the affection of a child upon His name. Mercies 
have failed in your case to do what God had in- 
tended them to accomplish, and when His chast- 
ening hand was laid upon you I seemed to see in 
it a Father's desire to bring back a wandering 



3°4 



Christian Womanhood. 



child. Has it thus appeared to you, dear broth- 
er? or do you think afflictions are the result of a 
blind chance ? No, you answer, afflictions spring 
not from the dust. How long, then, will it be 
necessary for God to visit you with judgment ? 
I have sometimes feared that His hand would not 
be taken from you in chastisement until you ac- 
knowledged your delinquencies and turned again 
unto Him. In your external deportment I know 
you are as consistent as a large proportion of 
church members ; but, dear brother, how is the 
heart ? Do you feel a love for Him who made 
and redeemed you? Is His will the law of your 
life ? Do you desire to hate sin because it is a 
transgression of His holy will ? And when He 
says ' my son give me thy heart,' do your af- 
fections burst forth as did the Psalmist's ? ' "Whom 
have I in Heaven but Thee, and there is nothing 
upon earth I desire besides Thee !' ' 0, how I 
love Thy law !' etc. My object in these lines 
is to turn your mind to a contemplation of past 
mercies ; to entreat you to think of your obliga- 
tions to your Heavenly Father, and to beg you, 
without waiting another hour, to confess your 
sins before Him, humble yourself in His pres- 
ence, and by repentance and faith to seek an 
interest in His favor. If you refuse, chastise- 
ment may or may not be removed, but you may be 
left by God's Spirit, and then nothing will remain 
for you but a fearful looking for God's judgment. 
I will say nothing to enlighten you in regard to 
your duty. This you know : ignorance can be 
no plea, because the truth is plain before your 



M. JT. Hverls. 305 

eyes. Dear brother, life is fast passing. Is it 
not wise for us to live in view of that Eternity 
upon which we must sooner or later enter ? Grod 
grant us a preparation for it, that our exit may 
be joyful, and that to depart will be but going 
to dwell with Jesus. May God bless you and 
lead you to Himself, prays 

" Your affectionate 

" Sister." 

As an instance of her persuasive relig- 
ious influence with the young, we speak of 
an acquaintance formed in Louisville, with 
a gay young girl in the height of her career 
of fashionable pleasure, to which she de- 
voted herself with no common enthusiasm, 
yet displaying marked abilities and unusual 
force of character. Mrs. Everts' interest 
was awakened in her as a neighbor, and as 
the acquaintance progressedj it was with 
prayer and religious conversation on the 
one side, received with surprise at first, 
which grew to affectionate regard. For 
years this acquaintance was kept up ; Mrs. 
Everts' prayers, conversations and corres- 
pondence being perhaps the strongest chris- 
tian influence of her life. A letter ad- 



20 



306 Christian Womanhood. 

dressed to her in '55 we can fortunately 
command : 

" Louisville, November 26, 1855. — Dear 
Betty, — Almost at the risk of giving offence 
(but no, I will not admit such a thing, inasmuch 
as you are too sensible, and your own conscience 
will uphold me), I have followed my feelings and 
taken my pen to speak with you a little while. 
You have been on my heart and your immortal 
interests have been pressing my spirit. "Will 
you believe me your friend when I tell you the 
truth, although that truth may be distasteful ? 
Or will you fancy those your best friends who 
bask in your smiles while in prosperity ; but if 
adversity came, believe me, dear girl, many of 
them would drift away like autumn leaves. I 
must contend that those are your friends who 
study your best interests. And what are those 
best interests ? Do they pertain to this world, 
with its brief existence, or to the* one which 
takes hold of eternity ? I am pained, dear Bet- 
ty, to believe that in all your calculations and ar- 
rangements you are attending only to this world, 
and making no provision for another. You are 
acting as though you were sure of life, and had 
been informed that sufficient notice would be 
given you for the next world. Dear girl, does 
not wisdom dictate in all things to attend to the 
most important things and let trifles go? But 
are you not reversing the order ? Oh ! for once 
be faithful with yourself. Let conscience speak 
— Heaven's vicegerent in your breast. When 



M. K. Uveris. 



307 



I see you thinking and caring only for this short 
and uncertain life, allured by its tempting baits, 
fascinated by its calls of pleasure, and regardless 
of the Spirit's whispers, I have often said, ' How 
is Betty to be saved?' This is no idle exclama- 
tion ; but my fears are aroused in your behalf. 
Unless, my dear young friend, you implore with 
all the earnestness of which you are capable, 
that God by His Holy Spirit will turn your heart 
from these ' lying vanities, 1 I see not how you 
will escape. Do you not wish to taste unalloyed 
happiness — happiness that will fill your soul to 
overflowing ? Then be a Christian — not a fash- 
ionable Christian, nor a professor, as too many 
are — but come and lay your whole heart and life 
on the altar of the Saviour who died to save you 
(Do you believe it ?} and you will taste true 
bliss, to be crowned with immortal blessedness 
when you lay down this mortal coil. Think me 
not fanatical. Would to God I had a tithe of 
the zeal the Gospel warrants, and you would 
have been warned and entreated times without 
number since I have spoken to you. Believe 
me, the hour is coming when you will justify all 
the anxiety of the most faithful Christian ; but 
then you may have sinned away your day of 
grace. And on your dying bed — for die you must 
— you will wonder at the wickedness of pro- 
fessors who never warn the unconverted, al- 
though professing to know their dangerous situ- 
ation. Let me ask one question : Do you think 
that the object which made it necessary for God's 
only Son to quit his glorious throne to dwell on 



308 Christian Womantiood . 

earth, and die the death of the cross, is of suf- 
ficient importance to claim your attention ? That 
object was the human soul — your soul. I beg you 
to think as you will wish you had when earth and 
all its scenes are passing from your view. Act 
as you shall wish you had acted when the Judge 
shall be seated on his great white throne, and 
then all will be well. 

" Adieu dear B. We shall be glad to see you 
this week at the meetings we are holding night- 
ly. Come with us and we will do thee good, for 
God has spoken good concerning Israel. 
11 Yours sincerely, 

"M. K. Everts." 

To the daughter of a long-cherished friend. 

"Dear A., — I was much pleased to receive 
your letter the other day, would have been bet- 
ter pleased had you expressed yourself more de- 
cidedly intent on the one great subject claiming 
your consideration. My dear girl, I want you 
to experience that love that can raise you above 
the besetments of life, nerve you with the power 
to do the will of God, comfort you in sorrow, 
guide you in perplexity, cheer you in death's 
dark hour, and give you an entrance to the gates 
of Paradise. 

"Are you going to yield to Satan, who you 
say influences you to give up your efforts to 
come to Christ. Is it so that his influence is to 
paralyze you ? The very idea should arouse you 
to the most determined effort to reach the cross 



M. 1£. mverls. 309 

or perish in the attempt. Shall such a Saviour 
plead with you in vain ? "Will you deliberately 
cast away the cup of blessing which he has filled, 
from your lips ? Will you run the risk of losing 
Heaven ? And then think of the ingratitude of 
such a state ! How can God have such forbear- 
ance with us sinners ? I marvel when I think 
of it. A., you have no time to spare. Lay 
down this sheet, go to the Saviour you have 
slighted, offer yourself to him to be wholly his 
forever, without any reserve ; keep nothing back ; 
confess your sins ; ask forgiveness ; believe ; and 
you will find him who is the only satisfying por- 
tion of the soul. Answer me and tell me you 
have done this, and that Jesus is your Saviour. 
He waits to be gracious, but he must be en- 
throned to the chief place in your heart ; you 
must take him to rule over you ; you must be 
willing to be his ; to be directed by him ; your 
will must give place to his. But how delightful 
is his service. ' His yoke is easy and his bur- 
den is light.' 

" You are young. What may you not do for 
Christ in this world if you only have his spirit ? 
Aim not to be a fashionably conforming Christian, 
seeing how far you can follow the maxims, cus- 
" toms and fashions of the world, and yet belong 
to Christ. Let your aims be lofty, and you will 
have joys a worldly Christian knows nothing of. 
My heart is drawn towards you very much, and 
I long to see you a child of God. It is not my 
custom to take the Sabbath hours to write, ex- 
cept religious letters, so I hone you will undei- 



310 Christian Wojnanfiood . 

stand why I have done it. Delay not, or you 
may grieve the Spirit, the tender, loving, wooing 
Spirit, who is waiting to change your heart and 
implant holy affections there. 

11 God bless you, dear girl. Shall we meet in 
Heaven, if not on earth? Shall we there cele- 
brate the praises of our dear Saviour ? May it 
be so is my prayer. 

" I am your very sincere 

" Friend.' 1 

To the same. 

" Chicago, September 22, 1865. — My dear 
A., — I had hoped to have answered your wel- 
come letter before this, but have been prevented 
by various hindrances. Instinctively my heart 
said, 'A. is being taught by the Spirit, or 
she would not have the feelings her letter indi- 
cates. To-day Mr. E. writes me that you and 
dear S. have given your hearts to the Saviour. 
Oh, how rejoiced I am to hear such precious 
news ! More than this : angels have struck 
anew their harps of gold, as the intelligence has 
been communicated ! And your dear parents, 
how unspeakably happy they must be to have t 
their children given in answer to their prayers. 
Does it not now seem passing strange that you 
could so long have withheld your heart from that 
dear Saviour who has done so much for you ? 
How wonderful is his forbearance, how deep his 
compassion to sinners like ourselves ! Surely, 
eternity will not be too long to sing his praises. 



M. K. averts. 311 

The longer I live, dear A., the more wonderful 
does this love of Jesus appear, the more precious 
His atonement. It seems to me, as often as this 
truth is presented in its simplicity and power, 
that there must be on the part of the hearers a 
pressing into the kingdom of God's dear Son. 
That men do not is a sad commentary on the 
blinding and hardening nature of sin. In medita* 
ting lately on the last words of Jesus to his dis- 
ciples, viz. : ' All power is given to me in Heaven 
and in earth,' I have had new views of the com* 
fort that announcement should give Christians. 
To think we have a Saviour so powerful as to 
control every thing in nature and Providence for 
the good of his people. Nothing can harm them 
— no temptation can overcome them if they lean 
upon his strength. Prosperity will bless them, 
adversity will purify them. All things work to- 
gether for good to them who love God. I trust 
you and I will not be contented, like too many, 
to receive the grace of God, profess His name, 
and then feel that the work is done. This life is 
the only time we shall have to show our love by 
working for our Lord and Master. Heaven is a 
place of holy enjoyment. Christ has left a cause 
pending in the world, and we are witnesses ; if 
we fail to give our testimony we betray this 
cause and dishonor him. My prayer is that 
you both may enjoy much of Christ's pres- 
ence in your souls, and be instrumental in 
leading many by your example and by your efforts 
to love and serve Him. God bless you both, is 
my sincere prayer." 



312 Christian Womanhood. 

The following letter was addressed to a 
young man of the most respectable con- 
nections, and heir to a large fortune. He 
was squandering it in dissipation. He was 
an occasional attendant at the First Bap- 
tist Church, through intimate relations 
with one of its families. Mrs. E., with 
another lady, had sought the mediation of 
Mr. Gough in his behalf, on one of his 
visits to Chicago : 

"Mr. G. S., — Some apology maybe necessary 
for intruding these lines upon your notice. The 
only one I shall offer is a deep interest in your 
welfare. Ever since your return, after your 
brother's death, my husband and myself have felt 
a strong desire to see you a converted man. 
Nothing short of this will restore you to health, 
and ability to act well your part in life, and 
nothing else can prepare you for a long and 
blessed eternity. Doubtless your judgment en- 
dorses what I say. You know all this, and 
more ; but the thing is to act. The prodigal 
son's knowledge of the fact that in his father's 
house there was bread enough and to spare, 
would not have saved him from starvation had he 
not arisen and gone to his father. The provision 
made for your salvation is ample, but you must 
seek if you would find ; you must ask if you 
would receive. Heaven has been emptied of its 
richest treasure ; the Son of God has left his 



M. K. Hverls. 



313 



lofty home and taken upon himself our nature ; 
suffered and died, the just for the unjust, the 
holy for the sinful, that we might be saved. 
"Will you accept of his mediation and salvation? 
"Will you take him for your Lord and Master, 
your prophet, priest and king ? Will you say 
' I will yield allegiance to his authority, will have 
him for my advocate before the throne V In a 
word, be his child by yielding your affections and 
life to his control. 

" Your destiny will turn upon an affirmative or 
negative answer to these questions. ! my 
young friend, as you value peace, and pardon, 
and salvation, fall upon your knees before God, 
ask him to incline you heartily to accede to the 
terms of salvation. Be not discouraged ; but 
press your suit, although Satan will throw all 
manner of barriers in your way. Break off from 
sin and honestly seek the Divine favor. If you 
do this, the voice of praise will soon be on your 
lips; joy will flow into your soul, and you will 
be a new creature in Christ Jesus. Lose no 
time ; to-day only is yours. Feel the greatest 
freedom in counseling with Mr. Everts or myself. 
Come to us or we will go to you. Anything we 
can do to help you in the cause I have mentioned, 
we will most heartily do. May God save you. 
He is waiting to be gracious." 

''Louisville, February 17, 1859, — My dear 
cousin Mary, — It has been with pain and sur- 
prise that we have learned of cousin A.'s pros- 
tration by disease, and a form of it which wo 

20* 



3H 



Chrislia?i WomanJiood. 



should scarcely imagine that he would be exposed 
to. But how little do we know how or when 
our Heavenly Father will commission one of his 
messengers, in the form of sudden or protracted 
disease or casualty, to strike us down. We are 
very glad'to learn that your dear husband is re- 
covering, and our hope is, that a naturally good 
constitution, aided by good habits, will overcome 
the attack which has seized him. May his use- 
ful life be spared to be a blessing to the world. 
It would seem to us that good men and active 
Christians, good stewards of the grace of God, 
are needed, and should be spared to a sinning 
world. Hence the inscrutability of the Provi- 
dence that removes so many from us. ' God's 
ways are not as our ways, neither are his thoughts 
as our thoughts.' How humbling to us to know 
that he can do without us all, and that his great 
purposes and plans may and will be carried out, 
even when those we deem important, nay, almost 
essential instruments, are removed. 

" How often have I thought of your attention 
and kindness to my precious parent when in na- 
ture's extremity. May the Lord reward you all, 
and more than make up to you all that you have 
done and suffered for others. How often are my 
thoughts in that sick chamber. How often does 
a recollection of that laboring breath haunt me, 
and the thought that I did not administer all the 
words of comfort I should have done, trouble me. 
Ob, how dear to my heart was that parent ! and 
what a strong tie to earth has been severed I I 



M. K. Averts. 315 

seem to be nearer the outer verge of time, and 
the Spirit world appears less distant. 

" Oh, that uncle would leave his testimony 
for Christ and his cause ! Tell him that Jesus 
was his dear brother's only hope ; may he be his. 
I want my dear father's family all to know that 
he died, feeling himself a sinner, saved by the 
sufferings, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 
God bless you all. Accept Mr. E.'s love, in 
which joins 

" Your loving 

" Cousin." 

" To the Hon. Common Council of the City 
of Chicago, — Your petitioners come before you 
to plead for a fearfully large class for whose re- 
formation, by the city, no provision has been 
made. While thousands and tens of thousands 
are spent in making healthful our streets and 
alleys, as a sanitary measure, the terrible moral 
pollution whose pestilent influence is threatening 
to destroy far more of our men and women — 
young men and maidens— than the much dreaded 
cholera, is entirely overlooked, and no eye but 
Heaven's knows how fearfully the morals of our 
city are threatened. 

"A few, whose hearts have been stirred by a 
knowledge of facts, heart-rending to any lover 
of our race, opened an Institution, three years 
since, as a Refuge to which ^,ny wanderer from 
the path of virtue might flee for safety and re- 
covery. Citizens very generously responded, and 
a large house was purchased, and has since been 



31 6 Christian Wo??ia?ihood 

sustained by their liberality. But so many have 
accepted the invitation that the house is over- 
flowing, and a large additional building is needed 
to accommodate at least seventy-five inmates, to 
include a Hospital. For this class in sickness 
and desolation no Hospital in this city opens its 
doors. Other cities make ample provision. New 
York, for instance, has its Blackwell's Island, 
sustained at public expense. 

If the Charter of Chicago makes no provi- 
sions for benevolent institutions, it does for the 
necessities of the city, and this your petitioners 
plead as a crying necessity, as your honorable 
body well know, to its healthful condition. If 
the necessities of the city required the tunneling 
of our mighty lake, involving the expenditure of 
hundreds of thousands, may not the decision of 
the all-seeing and all-knowing One be, that this 
saving of human beings in our midst, and saving 
of human souls, is a far greater necessity ? 

u Your petitioners would inquire, if it is a le- 
gitimate expenditure of public funds to provide 
houses of reform for boys and girls, why it may 
not be equally so to make some provision for the 
reform of five or six thousand of our population, 
a very large number of whom are young persons 
from fifteen to eighteen years of age, urged into 
a life of vice by orphanage, poverty, and decep- 
tion, at a period when the young heart is confid- 
ing and unsuspecting? While the friendless and 
orphans have hearts and homes opened to them, 
and are being adopted into families all over the 
land, no door is opened to one of the class for 



M. -ZT. liver Is. 317 

whom we piead ; not even if in her heart of 
hearts there is a purpose of reformation. But 
in the bitterness of her spirit she is compelled 
to sigh out, 'no man cares for my soul.' 

" And further : As fines exacted from the 
houses in which this class congregates, go into 
the city treasury, we would suggest if it be not 
proper for them to be expended upon the diseases 
which the vicious habits of their inmates engen- 
der. The Board of the the Befuge therefore 
most earnestly ask an appropriation for the build- 
ing of which they have spoken, which, together 
with improvements on the present one and re- 
moving a debt, will cost twelve thousand dollars, 
— that every individual desiring to return to the 
paths of virtue may have an asylum to which 
she may flee. And thus the dreadful guilt of 
neglect may be somewhat atoned for. 

" Not wishing to tax your valuable time, but 
praying most earnestly for a favorable response, 
we are, yours most respectfully, on behalf of the 
Board of Erring Woman's Befuge, 

" Mes. M. K. Everts, 

H Mrs. Hammond, }- Com. : 

" Mrs. 0. B. Wilson, 






Miscellaneous Correspondence. 

1 1 And as she trod her path aright, 
Power from her very garments stole ; 
For such is the mysterious might 
God grants the upright soul." 

Adding congratulations and religious intelligence 
to a business note. 

" February 15, 1860. — Dear Sister P., — A 
letter has just reached us from Mrs. St. C, giv- 
ing an account of brother L.'s preaching at Wal- 
nut street. Have we not all been amply repaid 
for all the anxiety and pains we took and felt for 
that dear young brother. God be praised for his 
goodness to him. We rejoice also to hear of the 
blessing that has descended upon Jefferson street 
Church. Brother Q. may be rejoicing over the 
vine that ran over the wall, may he not? We 
wish we could hear equally good tidings from 
Walnut street. May the Lord lead his people 
forth into a large place, and bless them abund- 
antly. 

"We are in the midst of a revival. Five 
were baptized last Sabbath, and several more are 
awaiting baptism. We meet every night, and 
conduct our meetings as we did two years ago at 



M. JT. JUrer is. 



319 



Walnut street, when God so graciously revived 
his work. The community seems ready for a 
great work. All that is wanting is a more fer- 
vent spirit of prayer. Mr. E. will require help 
if they continue much longer," as he begins to feel 
already the prostrating effects of so much preach- 
ing and special work. Last Sabbath Mr. E. 
baptized three, one our dear little W. Rejoice 
with us, and pray that his young feet may be 
kept in the paths of righteousness. I have 
wanted to write to your children, bu^ as yet have 
had no opportunity. We are holding meetings 
every night, and are encouraged to pray for' the 
outpouring of the Spirit. Tell R. and the little 
boys that Mr. E. and myself have no higher wish 
for them than that they early love and serve the 
dear Saviour. God bless them. We are glad to 
hear of so much religious interest at Jefferson 
street, and also at Portland. We have reason 
to rejoice at what the Lord has done, and by 
brother L., when we know how Satan tried him 
in every way to cause him to swerve." 

Announcing visit to L. 

" May 14, 1860. — Writing has been almost 
out of the question lately on account of engross- 
ing cares. For a similar reason I had about 
given up my Southern trip, but my husband and 
family insist strongly that I must not lose such 
a pleasure — so strongly that they have made me 
believe the thing among the possibles. 

" We propose leaving here on Wednesday 



320 Christian 'H r oma?i?iood \ 

night. Mr. E. is obliged to stop at Indianapolis 
to deliver an address on Thursday night ; but as 
we shall have so little time in L., he proposes 
that I go down in the first Thursday morning 
train, which will bring me there at what hour I 
know not. He will follow on Friday. We shall 
only be able to remain until the following Mon- 
day morning, when we leave for C, where my 
husband is engaged to speak on Monday night." 

To another+friend, alluding to the visit to L. 

"June 25, I860. — Dear Sister L., — The 
memory of our late visit is like a most pleasant 
dream — like the sweetest music at eventide, 
stealing over our spirits with its softening and 
subduing influence. It will thus follow us to our 
graves, never to be forgotten. The tangible 
part is ever before us, assuring us that it was 
not a dream, but a joyful reality. I am not at 
all satisfied when I think of the little intercourse 
we enjoyed with yourself and dear husband. A 
little time the evening I arrived, aGchat before 
retiring, and over the dish of strawberries, sums 
up all the time we had alone 

" Mr. E. left this morning for Burlington, 
Iowa, to speak at the college commencement 
there, or he would have a love message to send 
you and yours." 



M. £:. Uverls. 



3 2 ' 



Letter of friendship, with notice of health and 
public duties. 

" Dear Sister P., — How long it has been 
since I have seen your well-known and welcome 
handwriting. But it is my fault, I believe, for 
you wrote last. The past months have furnished 
little time for writing, as our house has been full 
to overflowing. Part of the time my help has 
been inefficient, so that much devolved on me to 
accomplish. I saw comparatively little of Mrs. 
.T. while here. Part of the time I was confined 
to the house — except in very pleasant weather — 
with a violent cough which still hangs about me, 
to the alarm of my dear husband and friends. I 
keep hoping, however, that it will soon be better. 
Are you all enjoying good health ? Is your 
mother usually well ? Do your children sing a 
hymn with the chorus — 

""We'll camp a while in the wilderness, 
And then we're going home ? ' ' 

I think of it in connection with your dear moth- 
er, as an aged pilgrim whose home is on the 
other side of Jordan, and to whom this world is 
as a wilderness compared to the city ' eternal and 
in the heavens.' Oh, for a loving faith to grasp 
these heavenly realities ! Do we live and act 
as heirs in expectation of a crown of glory ? I 
have been much interested to-day in going over 
a part of David's history, in connection with re- 
moving the ' Ark ' from Kirgath Jearim, and also 
with his preparations for the house of the Lord. 

21 



3 22 



Christian Wo?na?ihood. 



The enthusiasm he shows in his service, the love 
and thanksgiving which find expression in a most 
exalted song, filled me with admiration. I am 
persuaded there is not enough praise and thanks- 
giving in our religion. ' Oh, let us give thanks 
unto the Lord for He is good, for His mercy en- 
dureth forever.' 

" Mr. E. is well and quite busy. There seems 
every thing to do here ; no one need stagnate for 
want of employment and opportunity to do good. 
Miss S. has purchased a lot for a mission school, 
costing $1,400." 

Feelings in respect to the Rebellion, and the 
duty of pulpit and church in regard to it, 
to a Southern friend : 

"May 20, 1861. — Dear Sister P.,— Do not 
think we love you the less because you do not 
often hear from us. The love we bear you and 
your dear husband and family is among the fixed 
things which neither time nor change can affect, 
no. nor death itself, because it will bloom on the 
other side of the flood. That cold river will not 
quench what is so spiritual and godlike as the 
love of christian hearts. Brother G. writes us 
that certain who watch for evil have industrious- 
ly reported that my husband is preaching war 
sermons, in which he fulminates his thunders 
against the South, and even wishes slaveholders 
might be exterminated. Brother G. heard the 
sermon Mr. E. preached the day hundreds of our 
citizens were leaving, and excitement was at its 



M. JT. Uverts. 



3 2 3 



utmost pitch. He felt burdened as an embassa- 
dor of Christ only feels burdened when he is 
called to give the trumpet a certain sound, and 
trembles lest that sound should be false to his 
Master and mislead the people. His hope is, 
that he uttered the truth, for one or two, holding 
secession sentiments, left the house ; and, after 
the service, a gentleman from the East, an ultra 
abolitionist, found fault that he said so much 
about the good people of the South. We be- 
lieve the key to our troubles may be found in 
abuse of liberty turned into licentiousness — 
evils which naturally spring from free institu- 
tions. Also the custom, which has obtained in 
many places, of taking law into our own hands, 
and thus dishonoring the law of the land ; and 
also from party spirit, which has been rampant 
over our country, ridiculing administrations and 
cabinets, and threatening insubordination. Were 
the apostle in our midst, he would utter with 
emphasis : ' The powers that he are ordained of God ; 
whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power, re- 
sisteth the ordinance of Grod.' And if he utter- 
ed this of ancient corrupt government, what 
would he say of subjection to ours, the most 
wise and beneficent government the world has 
ever known. Would to God our Southern breth- 
ren would hear this voice of the Almighty rising 
over the clamor of their rebellion. Would to 
God that the Spirit of the Lord, as a convincing 
Spirit, might be sent among them to bring them 

back to their allegiance Do not think 

that I have turned politician. It seems to me 



3 2 4 



Christian Woma?ihood. 



that every American has too much at stake to 
sit idly by without feeling most deeply for our 
country. And besides, the experiment we are 
making on this side of the Atlantic is an experi- 
ment of freedom for the world ; bad indeed would 
it be, were this to prove a failure." .... 

Religious view of the state of the country, to the 
same friend : 

" April 9, 1862. — Dear Sister P., — Your 
letter of March and April came duly to hand 
to-day, and I hasten to answer it. It carried me 
vividly back to the scenes of other days, in which 
your dear husband and yourself figured largely. 1 
am glad you and yours are happy. But oh ! how 
many are not. News has just reached here of 
the terrible battle of Pittsburg. How many 
desolate homes are there throughout our dis- 
tracted country ! For what is all this frightful 
loss of life, this flowing of human blood ? . . . 
There was no sufficient reason for this rebellion. 
The masses North and South, were satisfied, and 
I will not judge those responsible for the present 
war ; God holds them to strict account. My 
prayer, is, that now we may learn the lessons our 
Father intends to teach, lest judgment, in some 
other fearful form, may overtake us. And, my 
dear sister, should not the professed children of 
God be the first at his feet, asking, " Wherefore, 
Lord, dost thou contend with us?" And 
might we not hear, if our ear was attentive, the 
answer, * Ye have robbed me — even this whole 



M. JS:. JZverts. 



&5 



nation — in tithes and in offerings.' Have we 
not done this ? Where are the consecration, the 
self-denial, the holy devotion of Christians ? . . . 
"When I speak of sacrificing for Christ, I blush 
with shame, that experimentally I am so ignor- 
ant of its meaning. Dear sister, must we live 
and die thus, while the world is perishing for 
lack of vision ? . . . This morning I go to the 
Sanitary Commission rooms, being one of a com- 
mittee to secure women nurses, a large number 
being sent for. The Catholics have been man- 
aging, Jesuitically, to get all the nursing into 
their own hands, to the exclusion of Protestant 
nurses, but our movement is to forestall this. 
For my part I think it is cruel to deny to our 
sons and brothers the ministration of christian 
women, and besides, while Protestants do all the 
providing for the comfort of the sick, the Catho- 
lics would get an immense power for time to 
come, over those who may recover, for rendering 
this service." .... 

God's hand upon the nation, to the same 
friend: 

" September 16, 1862. — Dear Sister P.,— 
You have had much cause for anxiety since we 
met, in regard to your city and State. That the 
Lord has a controversy with us, is certain ; and 
sometimes the feeling is forced upon me as I 
remember the history of the Israelites in Egypt, 
that sore judgments will visit us as a nation, 
until we proclaim liberty to the colored race. If 



326 Christian Womanhood. 

this is the Lord's purpose, and we fail to cooper- 
ate, it is certain his hand will be upon us to 
plague and chasten. May wisdom and light be 
poured upon us all, that God's will may be dis- 
covered and performed by us." 

Explanation to Southern friends, divirx judg- 
ment, and overthrow of Slavery : 

"Nov. 11, 1862.— Dear Sister P., — Your 
most interesting letter has just been read by Mr. 
Everts and myself; and although addressed to 
sister T., I feel it must be noticed by ourselves. 
"We feel and sympathize most deeply with you, 
in the sad turbulent experience through which 
you are now passing. The times are calculated 
to stir any soul of sensibility, to say nothing of 
patriotism, to its very depths. I have felt like 
a troubled sea — restless, agitated, uncertain. 
As I told you, I believe, in my last letter, my 
mind has been forced to a contemplation of the 
dealings of God with his ancient people, and 
with the judgments that followed their perse- 
cutors and oppressors. If we regard the slaves 
of this country as occupying an analagous position 
to Israel, in Egypt, or our nation as a people 
favored of God. peculiarly, and answering to the 
ancient people of God, in either case their his- 
tory is most instructive. In the first applica- 
tion, the command comes, "Let my people go." 
In the other view, that an ungrateful, disobedient 
christian nation will be visited with judgment, 
and if not reclaimed to God, be set aside by him, 



M. JC. Uverls. 327 

and its place given to one more worthy. In re- 
gard to the subject of slavery, Mr. E. and myself 
have ranked with the conservative class, al- 
though strongly anti-slavery in our feelings. 
For some weeks I have been travailing in spirit, 
on the subject of proclaiming liberty to the en- 
slaved millions in our country, and whether by 
the aid of God's Spirit or not, have found rest in 
the belief that the Most High demands this act 
of justice at the hands of our nation, and that 
unless we do his will in this particular, his frown 
will continue to rest upon us, and that ruin will 
overtake us. As to your allusion to Mr. E., 
could he in any thing show himself more recreant 
to his friends, than in disloyalty to his most re- 
ligious convictions ? In those convictions he is 
happy in supposing that he agrees with Jeffer- 
son, Clay, the most distinguished men of former 
ages, and the leading minds of the christian 
world. He has believed from the first opening 
of the rebellion, that the overthrow ■■- of slavery 
was inevitable. The only question seemed to 
him, whether it would gradually decline or come 
to a sudden end ; whether the Republic was to 
survive or go down with it. He believes that 
before the energies and wealth of the Republic 
are further wasted, she is better able to endure 
the shock and provide compensation to loyal 
owners, than she would be a year later. After 
so long forbearance, he does not think any pun- 
ishment is too severe, to those who, after full 
warning, deliberately persist in rebellion. As 
to the sufferings that may come upon the loyal, 



328 Christian Woma7i?iood. 

he would have them shared, as far as possible, by 
the loyal North. Mr. E. believes that the pro- 
gress of government must be received as the 
Providence of God. Even though its adminis- 
trators are unworthy, they are but the rod, the 
hand is God's. Mr. E., therefore, is looking 
with the most prayerful solicitude, to see how 
Christians adjust their conduct and expectations 
to the progress of events. Apart from incon- 
venience of changing social order, he believes 
that even without compensation, Kentucky 
would be richer and more prosperous in ten 
years if slavery was removed. With these feel- 
ings and convictions, Mr. E. feels no abatement 
of esteem and love for those endeared to him by 
such tender and happy associations, and hopes 
the reports of envious or officious meddlers, or 
misapprehension may never weaken the confi- 
dence of those whose affection and friendship he 
much prizes." . „ . 

" Chicago, October, 1863. — My dear Friend, 
— How welcome have been your last letters ! 
The more so because so long a time had elapsed 
since receiving any from you. I was rejoiced to 
hear you speak of your christian hope and joy 
during your last sickness 

" Have you met' with a little piece of poetry 
lately called the ' Starless Crown' ? It repre- 
sents one ushered into the presence of the Sa- 
viour ; and as he welcomes her to Paradise, he 
sees no star in her crown, but, pointing to others 
whose crowns glitter with stars, he asks her why 



M. K. JZverts. 329 

she has none, telling her that he intends those 
who are saved not to go alone to Heaven, but to 
take others with them. She awakes ; finds it a 
dream ; but is stimulated to pray and labor for 
the conversion of others. Shall we not thus 
labor and pray, and rejoice* at the last that we 
have been instrumental in leading some to the 
Lamb of God ? We are in the midst of the great. 
North-western Fair for the Sanitary Commission. 
It is a wonderful demonstration. 

"When are you coming to Chicago again? 
You will be surprised at the march of events 
here. We are about completing the University ; 
attempting to raise one hundred thousand dol- 
lars ! We are to have, in connection with the 
main building, an observatory containing the 
finest telescope in the world. Seventy-three 
thousand dollars have already been subscribed for 
that object-alone." 

Denominational progress in C. 

" Apeil 11, 1864.— Dear Sister P., — I have 
waited for weeks, supposing Mrs. T. could be the 
bearer of messages to you ; for I have been sick 
and without a girl in our large family ; and, 
therefore, as you may suppose, with no opportu- 
nity very favorable for writing. Mr. E. was 
scarcely ever so busy in his life ; so engrossed 
with great and grave matters. He is from home 
much of the time from morning until evening. 
Mrs. T. will tell you that we are on the eve of 
great movements here, such as never has been 

21* 



330 Christian 7Vo7nan7iood 

our privilege to see before connected with our 
own denomination. We have sold our church 
property, and are worshiping in Brjan Hall. 
Before beginning our own legitimate work, the 
church has voted $25,000 to the other Baptist 
churches of the city, which will cause a simul- 
taneous advance in all directions. "We have 
§72,000 towards our new house already secured, 
but have to bring the amount up to §80,000 be- 
fore any thing can be done towards the building. 
So the church has ordered. 

"We rejoice to hear of returning prosperity 
to the dear church in L. Never shall we cease 
to love and long for its welfare." 

Mr. JE.'s failing health — Visit to the sea- 
board : 

"June 12, 1865. — Dear Sister P., — Be 
assured of our appreciation of dear Brother P.'s 
cordial invitation to mingle again in your loved 
family. A conviction that another direction 
would be better for health, induced us to turn 
our eyes to the sea-board. After stopping a 
few weeks in central Xew York, in an up-town, 
quiet residence of a friend, we came last Satur- 
day, to this place. When I tell you we are in 
Babylon, do not instinctively cross two seas and 
imagine us in Eastern Asia, in Babylon the 
great (that was), but in a small, quiet place near 
the sea, hard by " Jerusalem" and "Jericho" but 
on Long Island, only thirty-six miles from Xew 
York. The contrast is as great as if we were 



M. JF. Uverts. 331 

thirty-six hundred miles. No sound disturbs us 
but an occasional footfall of the passing traveler, 
the incessant rustling of the leaves, moved by 
the breeze, and the distant roar of the ocean. 
The stillness and repose is delightful to me be- 
yond expression ; we live in such a whirl, in the 
busy city of Chicago, that a respite, such as we 

are having, seems necessary to life My 

husband is but slowly improving. Our old friend 
and physician in New York, says he should stay 
until fall. The brethren at home concur, and I 
think he will be absent until September 1st. I 
expect to return the last of this month, and 
"Willie will remain with his Pa." 

" Chicago, March 19, 1866.— Dear Brother 
P., — "We so regret that you could not have been 
with us yesterday, at the opening of our new 
Church. The occasion was memorable, and we 
trust will react upon our denomination, East and 
West. The weather was very propitious, the 
sun shining beautifully and tempting the other- 
wise sluggish from their homes. At an early 
hour the people began to come, until the whole 
house, aisles, and available part of the lecture 
room was filled. The singing was very fine, by 
a large choir. Mr. E. took for his text : ' Beau- 
tiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is 
Mount Zion.' After the discourse, Mr. E. laid 
before the people the financial condition of the 
enterprise, and stated that fifty thousand dollars 
were needed to free the Church from debt, pay 
for the organ, finishing, etc. In about thirty or 



332 Chrislia?i Womanhood. 

forty minutes forty-eight thousand dollars were 
subscribed ! the highest sum being three thous- 
and dollars. In the evening between five and 
six thousand more were raised. When the pews 
are rented, it is intended to apply the bonus to 
the towers, which are not yet built ; so that we 
hope to have our extensive Church edifice, cost- 
ing $75,000 (since increased to$125,000),all paid 
for ! Is this not very wonderful success ? The 
Lord has been with us, giving the Church the 
greatest unanimity of feeling and largeness of 
heart. Special prayer has been going up from 
many hearts, that we might be able to lay the 
offering unincumbered on the Altar of the Lord, 
and he has heard prayer. In addition to this we 
are rejoicing over converts. For three successive 
Sabbath nights we have had baptisms, and we 
trust that God is about pouring out His Spirit 
upon our congregation. Pray for us, that in this 
rapidly growing and wicked city our Church may 
be a mighty power. 

" Mr. E., as you may suppose, is conscious of 
great relief. The anxiety before opening nearly 
prostrated him ; but I hope now he will rally, 
and have no other extra care." 



XXI. 

The Last of Earth. 

' Thou art not dead I our sorrow does thee wrong, 
Oh, crowned and sceptered spirit, mid the throng 
Whose golden harps are vocal with the hymn, 
Chanted by ranks of burning seraphim ; 
Henceforth shalt thou be found to walk with them 
The bright streets of the New Jerusalem 1" 

JTTRING the last two or three 
years, although Mrs. Everts' gen- 
eral health seemed remarkably 
good, yet she betrayed some- 
what her overtaxed state. Though always 
active, she dreaded the exertion of a long 
walk. She frequently spoke of it as an ef- 
fort to entertain company. She once said to 
a daughter : "I am alarmed at my state of 
mind ; I feel such a burden of care that 
sometimes I can not smile." In times of 
slight indisposition she would admit a great 




334 Chrislia?i Womanhood. 

mental pressure, and extreme bodily fa- 
tigue ; but with a day or two of rest, she 
would again resume her place, with such 
an air of gentle authority, and the se- 
rene front she always bore, until anxiety 
died away in admiration and wonder, and 
the conviction of. her remarkable endurance 
only strengthened. 

As the family were scattering in the sum- 
mer, some for health, some for pleasure, 
they individually urged upon her different 
plans of relaxation. But to all of these she 
answered that her duty held her home for 
the present ; and when they pressed her 
further, she gave as sufficient reason the 
claims of the Refuge. She said she felt 
what was done must be done immediately. 
We would call this prescience in some, but 
she was always in haste to do good. It was 
a life-long habit to sacrifice personal ease 
for a worthy cause. 

After in turn fitting out and sending off 
husband and children, she gave herself un- 
reservedly to the plan of Church benevo- 
lence, and her work for the Refuge ; and 
in the necessary writing, her pen never 



M. 1C. Uverls. 335 

moved so rapidly, nor thought seemed so 
free. As a niece remarked : " I would sit 
and watch aunty as she wrote letter after 
letter, never pausing even for a word, until 
she had finished twelve in a single evening. w 
She stood among her duties like the harvest- 
er binding his sheaves in haste as he watches 
the reddening evening sky. And as she 
wrought, the summons came : "It is 
enough, come up hither." 

The little neighborhood prayer meeting, 
organized this last Summer of her life, 
was attended but the Sunday before her 
sickness ; her female prayer meeting at 
the usual time. Friday, the last day she was 
out soliciting for the Eefuge, she "came 
home just at nightfall, as she admitted, " so 
tired she could hardly command her feet;" 
but her face beaming with success, and not- 
withstanding her fatigue, she would not 
forego the evening meeting. 

After the meeting she convened the ladies 
for their decision on some purpose of 
Church expenditure. The next day, too 
wearied to go out, she busied herself with 
the needle in some little repairs that a 



336 Christian Womanhood. 

mother finds constantly needful. Yet she 
spent the night at a neighbor's that, if ne- 
cessary, she might be called upon to care for 
the sick. Sunday morning found her fever- 
flushed and ill. To this succeeded a long 
two weeks, first of unrest and fever ; then, 
as the fever raged higher, delirium set in. 
The doctors hinted of a terrible mental 
strain. Opiates could not give her sleep. 
Then there was another two weeks. At 
first no change for the worse ; then hope 
gave it a name : " a favorable change," 
they said ; and the doctor, more gravely : 
" If her brain can hold out a little longer." 

11 Pale and wan she grew, and weakly — 
Bearing all her pains so meekly, 
That to them she still grew dearer, 
As the trial hour drew nearer." 

But no human care or skill could hold her ; 
no earthly love could fetter longer this 
spirit that heard the Father's cal£ and on 
the 11th day of October, 1866, surrounded 
by her family and some of her dearest 
friends, she breathed her last, unconscious 
of pain, and so softly, one could hardly tell 
when the last had come. 



M« JT. Uverts. 337 

* c Her suffering ended with the day \ 
Yet lived she at its close, 
And breathed the long, long night away 
In statue-like repose. 

41 But when the sun in all his state, 
Illumined the Eastern skies, 
She passed through G-lory morning-gate, 
And walked in Paradise." 

The intelligence of her death occasioned 
a wide-spread sorrow throughout the city. 
There were moist eyes seen " on 'Change," 
and men on the street shed tears as they 
spoke of the loss to the community. While 
living she " hath borne her faculties so 
meek, hath been so clear in her great office, 
that her virtues will plead like angels" for 
recognition and observance in her death. 
All sought to do her honor. A public con- 
vention paused in the midst of their deliber- 
ations, to weep and pray, and pass reso- 
ultions of compliment and condolence. 
The board meeting of the University in- 
terrupted their business to make mention 
of her death, while one, a member of an- 
other denomination of Christians, rendered 
a beautiful tribute to her memory. The 
22 



338 Christian Womanhood. 

news being earned to a convention held in 
a neighboring State, they too made honor- 
able mention of her name, while public 
prayer was requested that the memory of 
her life might be sanctified to the good of 
the churches. One, a well known public 
servant, constantly traveling, said that he 
never had known such wide-spread and 
general grief occasioned by any woman's 
death. 

The Louisville Church, among whom she 
walked for seven years, sent resolutions 
expressive of sorrow and grief. 

The meetings of her own Church, for 
several succeeding weeks, took their tone 
from her death, were almost given up to 
recollections of her life, and the lessons to 
be taken therefrom ; and in order to com- 
memorate the rich legacy of her example, 
commemorative resolutions were ordered 
to be inscribed upon the Church Record. 
The last sad funeral rites were conducted 
as nearly as possible in accordance with 
the often expressed feelings of Mrs. E. 
The Church was, in her mind, the soul's 
earthly homestead, the fittest place in 



M. I£> JZverts. 339 

which to celebrate our crowning joy, our 
most profound sorrow: where the one shall 
be consoled, the other hallowed. Fittingly 
robed in stainless white, emblematical of 
the life clothed in Christ's righteousness 
she had so long borne on earth, and her 
hands resting upon the unstrung lyre — for 
the silver cord was broken — and this one, 
so peculiarly a daughter of music, had 
ceased upon earth her song. So she was 
borne to the Church of her love, whose 
solid walls had risen assisted doubtless by 
her prayers and efforts. 

The day, for its rare loveliness, answered 
the poet's description — 

u Sweet day ! so still, so calm, so bright, 
Bridal of earth and sky. ' ' 

And with its suggestions of the beautiful 
ended here, only to begin above, seemed to 
act nature's part as consoler, and 

M Glide into our darker musings with a mild 
And healing sympathy, that steals away 
Their sharpness ere one is aware." 

The services were conducted by clergy- 
men of her own and other denominations : 



340 



Christian Womanhood. 



Revs. Osgood and Clarke, Drs. Smith and 
Burroughs; Dr. Humphrey, of the Presbyte- 
rian Church, and Dr. Eddy, of the Meth- 
odist. 

The thronged Church swayed to the 
speaker's words, and by tears attested their 
grief and loss. Yet it was not altogether 
a sad place. Many felt that they stood as 
the disciples after the Saviour's ascension, 
gazing up into Heaven. 

The remarks of Dr. Eddy being more 
personal and tributary, we transcribe in 
part: 

Coming to address you in the presence of the 
remains of this devoted Christian woman, I 
bring you some of the lessons the occasion has 
brought me. 

1 . How beautiful a thing is a consecrated Christian 
Life. — I mean that real consecration which re- 
cognizes the divine claim, and surrenders all to 
Christ: life, friends, goods, powers, all! Sur- 
renders these to His service. Not the dreamy, 
indefinable consecration of the mystic, but the 
real consecration to Christian doing, so that duty 
becomes privilege ! I only repeat, in view of 
the luster of her life, how beautiful ! She did 
comprehend what is meant by " Ye are not your 
own ; ye were bought with a price/' and knew 



M. J£. Uverls. 341 

it was divinely logical to add, " Wherefore glorify 
God in your body and spirit, which are His?" 

2. In her were harmonized the claims of domestic 
and public duties. — Mary sitting at the Saviour's 
feet, and Martha serving with conscientious pains- 
taking in the round of hospitable duty and home 
care, are types of character which demand to be 
blended in the perfect christian matron. Home 
has its cares — husband, children, guests — these 
require attention. Home is her empire, and will 
be happy or miserable as she directs, and most 
unfaithful is she who fails to appreciate or per- 
form its duties. But there are outside duties. 
Woman is appealed to incessantly to conduct 
the various organizations for benevolent effort. 
Refuges, Homes, Asylums, Hospitals, plead for 
her presence and supervision. Many a christian 
matron has stood tearfully between these two 
and cried " Lord help me." 

Mrs. Everts' organizing mind, clear-sightedness,, 
commanding will and intelligent conscientious- 
ness enabled her to harmonize these demands. 
At home she was the angel of the household. 
Careful, economical, thrifty and industrious, she 
ruled well and wisely in the empire of home. 
There it might well have been said of her, " She 
openeth her mouth in wisdom, and in her tongue 
is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the 
way of her household, and eateth not the bread 
of idleness. Her children arise up and call her 
blessed ; her husband also, and he praiseth her." 
Yet who was more efficient in outside duties ? 
In those of the Church, the Sabbath school, the 



342 Christian Womantiood. 

prayer circles, the relief of the poor, in benevo- 
lent organizations, in efforts to rescue erring 
girls and women ? Ye who toiled in these vine- 
yards know well how clear was her comprehen- 
sion, how practical her plans, how tireless her 
zeal, how potent her pen, how abundant her 
labors. The painful problem of how to adjust 
home and exterior duties found its solution in her 
life. 

3. Her life was a specimen of blended denomina- 
tional integrity and Catholic activity and sympathy . — 
I shall speak more freely because I am of an- 
other denomination. God has suffered, in His 
Providence, the existence of denominations, 
branches, in his one Holy Church. Each repre- 
sents some distinctive idea, and each has its 
mission. While these continue, each Christian 
will find his strength in conscientious devotion 
at his own, altar. It is vain, it is foolish, to ig- 
nore denominational preference. Our own stands 
to us as symbol of what is Christly and Churchly, 
and we can not look elsewhere with the same 
deep, tender outgoing of love. 

But there are common grounds of defence, 
common lines of attack, great schemes of re- 
ligious philanthropy, summoning united heart, 
hand, mind, prayer and faith. 

Mrs. Everts loved her own Church. To her, 
its doctrinal standards syraboled the faith deliv- 
ered to the saints, and its ordinances, apostolic 
usage. Hence she sought its prosperity, and 
sought to build it up in strength. She was right. 
Yet she found time amid her many duties, and a 



M. JT. Uverls. 343 

warm place in her heart for many charities and 
enterprises not denominational. And here again 
she was right. 

4. I find in this completed life a commentary upon 
the words: u Behold, we count them happy that 
endure." — There is the endurance of resistance. 
The pillar stands against the beating of the 
storm ; the anchor holds against the tugging of 
the ship, as if it knew all it had to do was to 
hold ; that hundreds of lives hung upon the event 
of its " enduring " the plunging strain upon it. 
This is manifested in the christian life by resist- 
ance of evil ; by endurance of trial ; by bearing 
up under great sorrow. It is being " rooted and 
grounded ;" it is being " steadfast and mmoved ;" 
it is being " established in grace." There is the 
endurance of activity — to continue faithful in duty ; 
to bear the march and brow the assault. 

How these met in her life. She maintained 
her integrity ; she met what of trials came ; met 
it submissively, and accepted gently the cup she 
was called to drink. She continued in the work 
of the Lord. One by one her lines of activity 
were spun out, and it seemed as if her death 
came when, more than at any other time, for 
years, they were about completed. She accepted 
duty when devolved upon her. 

" I would have no broken column to mark the resting 
place of the ripened Christian." — Remarks by Br. Eddy, 
at the burial service of the wife of the Rev. Dr. Everts, of 
Chicago. 



344 Chinstian Woman7iood. 

The smile of thy heart went not with thy death T 
Too changeless and pure to fade with thy breath ; 
But glowing forever in fullness of love 
Thou walkest in beauty with seraphs above ; 
And the sweep of thy finger is felt o'er the lyre 
"Whose notes join the strains of the Heavenly choir. 

Thine infinite gain in the Presence divine, — 
Whose glory all glories of earth doth outshine, 
Shall be as a balm, from onr Father's loved hand, 
To cheer the torn heart in this dark, desert laud, — 
Shall brighten the pathway of tears and of strife, 
Till our spirits join thine in the Heavenly life. 

No stranger wert thou 'mid the glorified throng, 
For angels and seraphs did welcome thee home; 
Home to thy Saviour, where, tearless and pure, 
Thy spirit in rapture shali dwell evermore ; 
There, waiting our coming from earth's dreary night, 
Thy welcome shall greet us at the Gateway of Light* 

It is with a strange awe that we handle 
work fallen from hands now folded in 
death. One unconsciously ponders the 
" last times " of life. Did any fleeting 
thought suggest it ? Was there a shadowy 
glimpse of the "never more?" Who can 
tell the mysteries of the "Silent Land?" 

After her death, was found a detached 
sheet bearing the record of her last birth- 
day, the only orivate reflections of which 



M. 1£. HJverts. 345 

we find any trace since her marriage. The 
years were too full of toil and care for even 
this self-indulgence, and she only finds time 
for these last words, in the comparative 
quiet of her family's absence : 

" Chicago, August 30, 1866. — I have reached 
my forty-ninth birth-day ! How is life speeding 
its course ! Another } r ear, and half a century 
will have rolled over my head ! Had these all 
b'een years carefully and faithfully consecrated to 
God, how differently would I feel in the retro- 
spect. Truly, for nearly thirty-five years has 
my name been enrolled in the Christian Church ; 
but how cold have been my affections ; how fitful 
my service. I can give my testimony to the 
faithfulness of my Heavenly Father, for his 
goodness has followed me and mine. We have 
gone through a variety of experiences, but he 
has never allowed his faithfulness to fail. My 
husband and my children all live, and are bless- 
ings for which I cannot be sufficiently thankful. 
All are in the Church of Christ, and, I trust, 
members of the Church invisible. All most 
dear and precious — blessings of which I feel my- 
self unworthy. Then we are largely blessed 
with dear, kind, christian friends, with whom we 
take sweet counsel. God has placed us in a 
highly responsible position, which I humbly pray 
we may be increasingly qualified to fill. 

" In view of all these things I feel deeply 
humbled, and have endeavored to consecrate my- 

22* 



346 Christian Womanhood \ 

self and all I have anew to my loving Father and 
precious Saviour. God's love impresses me with 
new force ; I seem to have glimpses of late 
which have filled me with ecstacy of joy. He 
seems so near, and it is so sweet to trust him. 
Jesus is so precious and his cause so dear. I 
long for his reign over my heart, and over all 
hearts. Yes, dearest Lord, I love thee ; use me 
entirely for thy glory ; make me a better wife, 
mother, sister, friend ; a better member of thy 
Church. Thy goodness oppresses me ; sometimes 
makes me tremble ; but I will rejoice in thy gifts, 
dear Father. Draw me and mine, by them, 
nearer to thee. 

"M. K. Everts." 

In opening her private papers, we find 
that she held all the lines of her business 
life until the last. In one parcel, a long 
series of accounts with brothers, extending 
over years, and embracing the most per- 
plexing minutiae; in another, a full detail 
of building accounts, in the interest of 
several members of the family, distinct, 
although together. Still another holds the 
records of the building of the South Mis- 
sion Chapel. Much of the business detail 
devolving upon her husband, she kept the 
full sub-lists, and an account of all outlays 



M. £". Averts. 



347 



and contracts. Here was preserved the 
by-laws, and some notice of the Home of 
the Aged and Indigent Females. And 
here too the business papers connected with 
her last and perhaps dearest work : every- 
thing pertaining to the Refuge — the sub- 
scription papers, building estimates, com- 
plete lists of business firms in the city who 
supplied building materials of any kind, 
etc., the appeals to the Common Council, 
etc. ; also, some of the books of the Church 
Benevolent Fund. Among these a large 
parcel comprised "A Wife's Record of her 
Husband's Life and Labors," kept since 
June, 1849, and dedicated to her children. 
All these in the clear hand and unblotted 
page peculiar to her papers. 

" Then be it ours, although we weep to miss 
Thy voice of music from a world like this ; 
Through all life's change of joy and sorrow, deep 
Within our hearts thy memory to keep ; 
Like thee, to brighten all our path below, 
By pouring blessings round us as we go ; 
Kindle new hopes in breasts that long have been 
Darkened by sorrow and oppressed by sin ; 
And bid Heaven's light with meekest lustre shine, 
Till our own souls become as white as thine, 
And the whole earth is filled with radiance divine 1" 



XXII. 

Funeral Wreath. 

1 Dead ! art thou dead ? Alas ! dear friend, I hear 
The solemn tidings with reluctant ear ; 
And my stunned sense no ready credence gives 
To the sad tale, ' Thy friend no longer lives 1' 
For Oh ! if love can hold the fleeting breath, 
If virtue can turn back the shafts of death, 
If purest thoughts that never knew a stain, 
If heavenly graces, cherished not in vain, 
If these, and more than these, have power tosavo, 
Oh ! friend beloved, thou art not in the grave." 

SjHE compass of the present vol- 
ume necessitates the selection of 
I a few from the many spontaneous 
expressions of sympathy and 
grief that were offered the family — mem- 
ory's wreath, culled of her virtues and 
graces. 

The following is from one who, a fre- 
quent exile from home, through business 




M. IC. JEJverls* 349 

claims, yet was welcomed to the intimacy 
of Mrs. Evert's home-circle : 

" Kochester, N. Y., December 5, 1866. — 
Dear Miss E., — The first news of your dear 
mother's death was given me by a friend on an 
eastern train, while I was watching in the depot 
for one going west. It brought to me the keenest 
sense of desolation and personal bereavement. 
Had I not been able by that merciful arrange- 
ment by which the stress of grief is mitigated by 
tears, to weep, the announcement would have 
unmanned me. Aside from my own mother, 
none stood higher in my veneration and affection 
than yours. She was to me a mother indeed, 
when, far from home, I needed all the aids which 
christian counsel and the quiet inspiration of her 
tranquil, courageous trust in God could give me. 
In the sportive freedom of our intercourse, I 
called myself her eldest son, and now that she is 
gone, it seems as if the tears that blind my eyes 
are warm with the tenderness of a relationship 
closer than that which actually bound me to. her. 
Your dear mother was a woman, in my estima- 
tion, of an extraordinary nature. There was a 
combination of character such as made her life 
round, beautiful, and complete. There was 
nothing in excess. She was very gentle, yet 
unusually efficient and executive. She had a 
multitude of duties, social, public, pastoral, ben- 
evolent, yet I never saw her in haste, perplexed 
or overcome. There was such a sanctified equi- 
poise of mind and heart, that she seemed never 



35° 



Christian Womanhood. 



to labor even when most ardently occupied, and 
never to be overcome by her emotions, even 
when these were most stirred and tried. Her 
nature always seemed to me a mingling of sum- 
mer and autumn, full of blossom as- of fruit, very 
cheerful, yet of natural delicacy and beauty, 
ready for every office of charity, for every call of 
christian duty, for every engagement of social 
life* for every claim of love 'made by her hus- 
band, her children, or any one of her numerous 
friends. As a missionary, she was the most un- 
obtrusive, yet most effective, of any into whose 
acquaintance christian fellowship ever introduced 
me." . . . 

" Yours, very sincerely, 

" James D. Reid." 

" Kalamazoo, October 15, 1866. — My Dear 
Brother E., — Having been privileged to meet 
your now sainted wife, so often this past sum- 
mer, in the midst of the home through which her 
many virtues diffused their pure and softened 
splendors, I am the better prepared to know the 
greatness of your loss, and if your grief is com- 
mensurate with that loss, the good God pity you. 
My pen pauses in any attempt to offer you com- 
fort. My soul sits down in silence with you, 
and mingles its tears with yours. Heaven has 
gained a brighter spirit than often visits it from 
this earth. Oh ! how joyous, after a few years 
more of toil for her and your Saviour, muat be 
your reunion. Accept the prayers and sympa- 
thy of your brother in Christ. 

"J. M. Gregory." 



W. £:. Uverts. 



351 



"Louisville, October 25, 1866. — Dear E., 
— It is unnecessary for me to recapitulate your 
mother's radiant virtues. I have never known a 
woman so fully clothed in those graces which 
not only adorn the Christian, but so potently 
influence all who come within the circle of their 
refining and ennobling influence. Her praise is 
not only in all the churches, but the community 
at large remember her unremitted zeal, her lofty, 
unselfish devotion to a broad benevolence, un- 
limited by creed or section. I can»not think of 
one upon whom all parties could so readily 
bestow unqualified and unbounded laudations. 
She. was so unpretentious that her loveliness 
appeared always an immediate reflex of the 
Shekinah that dwelt ever in the sacred precincts 
of her soul, and thus she rendered unto God all 
the glory. ... 

" As ever affectionately, 

" Mart Hegan." 

"New York, October 19, 1866. — Dear 
Brother E., — It was with feeling of heartfelt 
sorrow that we yesterday read the news of the 
death of your beloved wife. All our family were 
most sincerely and devotedly attached to her. 
There are very few, if any, that they all held in 
so tender regard. We can only offer you our 
most sincere sympathy in this hour of your 
severest trials and bereavement. May the Lord 
sustain you. . . . The whole pathway of her 
life is strewed with flowers ; not a thorn do I 
believe she has left. She has filled up the 



3J 2 



Christian Womanfiood. 



measure of her days with usefulness. I think I 
have never known any person so perfectly con- 
secrated to Christ. 

" Yours very truly, 

" William Phelps." 

'•Louisville, October 12, 1866. — My Dear 
Mrs. T., — Our hearts were deeply saddened 
this morning by the dispatch announcing the 
death of that great and good woman, our much- 
loved Mrs. ©. We had heard of her serious 
illness, but the last report was, ' she is a little 
better.' She has been almost constantly on my 
mind since I first heard of her danger. And this 
morning, while dressing for breakfast, I felt, if 
God should mercifully spare her life, friends and 
the church ought to appoint a day of thanks- 
giving. Imagine the shock to my feelings when 
I saw, almost the first thing on opening the 
paper, the unexpected notice of her death. My 
heart sank within me, and I could but exclaim, 
alas, alas, there is nothing left to be done for her 
now. We can only wrap around ourselves the 
mantle of faith, and in mournful submission, say, 
' Thy will be done.' Thus, I fully believe, she 
would have us do. But what a loss. Oh, what 
a loss to her friends, to the church, to her family, 
and to the world. ... I know how hard it is, 
in the hour of such bitter agony, to look through 
the deep darkness, and see behind the cloud a 
smiling face. It will be hard even for him, 
who has so often tried to lift the veil for others. 
'Tis even hard for me who am so remotely idea- 



M. J?. Uverls. m 353 

tified with her ; for as I write, the cloud and 
mystery seem to thicken ; and I am almost lost 
in the darkness and gloom which surround this 
mysterious Providence." .... 

"V. C. Petee." 

Among many anxiously seeking the sick 
and wounded after the war, the Rev. Mr. 
C, in his quest, came to Chicago, and 
there made Mrs. E.'s acquaintance, under 
circumstances which the following letter 
commemorates : 

" December 26, 1866. — . . .It was a sultry 
evening in July when I called at her house, a 
perfect stranger, and related, in reply to her 
inquiries, the story of my son's long sickness in 
the hospital at Columbus, Ky., and my own re- 
peated attacks of illness while on my way to 
visit him. She at once extended to me a most 
cordial invitation to make her house my home 
as long as I remained in the city, an invitation 
which I instinctively felt was not mere civility, 
but the spontaneous outburst of christian kind- 
ness. Respectfully declining to accept such 
generous hospitality, I returned to my lodgings 
at the hotel, where I was again prostrated by a 
severe attack of illness, which, I have no doubt, 
would have terminated my life had I not in the 
early morning called a carriage and driven to 
your house. Shall I ever forget the constant 
and kind attentions of your mother, through that 
23 



354 



Chrislia?i 7Koma?ihood. 



week of sickness ? So sympathetic, tender, 
thoughtful, unselfish, and self-sacrificing. She 
moved in and out of my sick chamber like an 
angel of mercy, and as I have said many times 
since then, I think I owe my life to her. It is 
strange that the reading of the few words that 
told her death to the world, should have opened 
the flood-gates of memory, brimming my eyes 
with tears. The death of my own mother could 
scarcely have affected me so deeply." . . . 

From Dr. Backus : 

" October 12, 1866. — My Dear Cousin, — 
My heart is with you in your great affliction. 
Were I with you I could only pray : 

11 ' Lord, our help in ages past, 
Our hope for days to come, 
Our helper while the storm shall last, 
And our eternal home.' 

14 1 did hope she would be saved to you, to the 
family, to the church, and to the poor, but alas ! 
she has gone. Not dead but slecpeth. Not a 
doubt but she whom we loved, is, and ever will 

be, with the Lord I know not when my 

hopes have more unexpectedly perished, for I 
left you, hoping dear M. would live, and I know 
not that my heart was ever so sad. ' Friend 
after friend departs,' and in the death of dear 
M., who has not lost a friend?" 

" J. S. Backus." 



M. IC. JEverls. 3^5 

The following letter accompanied the 
wreath that lay at her feet : 

" My Dear Friend and Pastor, — I can not 
express my feelings ; you know how I loved her. 
You can appreciate what I suffer. Lay this 
wreath at her feet for me, the last token of love 
I can offer. 

" Most affectionately yours, 

" B. C." 

From Gen. McC. : 

" "Will you please accept and appropriate for 
the Erring Woman's Refuge, the enclosed. It 
is scarcely my gift. All is due to her. It is 
only one of the least of the flowers growing from 

love and charity buried in her grave It 

may not be ungrateful to you to know that one 
of the silent was not the least touched by that 
sad loss, sad to you and to us, but not to her." 

A German pastor, whom she had often 
entertained and encouraged in his work in 
Louisville, and after his removal to Kan- 
sas, forwarded a box of clothing, and other 
useful articles for his family, upon the 
news of her death, writes, in broken Eng- 
lish, "I was struck with silence; I could 
not speak for sorrow ;" and the letter was 
full of affectionate memories. 



356 Christian Womanhood, 

First gush of sorrow at the loss of friend and 
fellow-laborer : 

"October 11. — Mrs. E. died this day at 
noon. What a loss to her family, to our insti- 
tutions, to this community ; to me, personally, 
what a loss 1 How can I bear it ? My sensibili- 
ties are bleeding at every pore. I have been 
associated with this good woman three and a 
half years, on the Board of Managers of the 
Erring Woman's Refuge. In my opinion she 
was among the greatest of living women. One 
of the truest, the best, the strongest and firmest, 
the most gentle. As presiding officer of our 
Board, she never said to us, ' Go, ladies, 1 but 
'Come.' ' All we want is faith and correspond- 
ing works and we shall succeed.' The last out- 
ward duty was to solicit brick for our Hospital 
building. Among the last efforts of her pen, 
was a most thrilling appeal to the common coun- 
cil to aid in this charity. No one could be in 
her presence without feeling strengthened and 
stimulated to do with their might what their 
hands and mind found to do. Her dignified 
bearing, her pure and faultless life, her active 
mind, ever awake to the wants and woes of fallen 
humanity, preeminently qualified her for the 
station she filled. Although her presence can 
make my labors cheerful no more, I will emulate 
her noble example ; I will work on and on, with 
a higher and holier purpose." 



M. JK. Averts. 357 

From the Chicago Republican : 

*****<< jy[ rg Everts has been a leader 
in almost all the philanthropic movements of 
the city, and labored with the utmost unself- 
ishness in a variety of charitable undertak- 
ings, and under numerous and diversified re- 
sponsibilities. * * * * She was a lady of 
remarkable executive ability, possessed of un- 
bounded energy in the prosecution of the chari- 
table missions she undertook ; of admirable tact 
and discretion', and universally welcomed and 
beloved in the circles filled by her sphere of 
beneficence. One of the last public acts of her 
life was to solicit contributions of brick from the 
various manufacturers for the new Home of the 
Friendless building in this city. * * * * 

V Mrs. Everts was endowed with much intel- 
lectual power, and her intuitive delicacy and 
perceptions of propriety caused her, with all he* 
ability and superiority in council, to avoid all 
obtrusion, and to shrink from all ostentation or 
parade. The consciousness of the good she was 
doing, was her best reward for the labors in 
which she was constantly employed, and in 
which she was governed by the Scripture rule, 
' "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with 
thy might.' Her illness, indeed, was superin- 
duced by over-exertion in works of piety and 
philanthropy. 

" She was well known and much depended 
upon in all undertakings for the amelioration of 
suffering and distress, bv the Christian and phi- 



3^8 Christian Womanhood. 

lanthropic portion of the community, who, with 
thousands elsewhere who knew and esteemed 
her, will deeply and sincerely mourn her depar- 
ture from her field of piety and usefulness on 
earth." 

From the Louisville Courier : 

11 To speak too highly of her merit is not pos- 
sible. But it was especially in her own home 
that her christian graces were displayed. As a 
wife, whose happiest duty was to cheer her hard- 
working husband ; as a mother, whose earnest 
and ever-present effort was to bring up her 
children in the fear of her Master ; as a friend, 
whose wise counsel and encouragement were 
never withheld from child, friend, or servant ; 
she was conspicuous above any woman with 
whom it has ever been our fortune to meet. "We 
•never saw a frown upon her face ; we never 

heard a sharp word from her lips Her 

death is a public calamity, for of such women 
come the bone and sinew of the Republic." 

Resolutions adopted by theChurch of which she 
was a member : 



First Baptist Church, 
Chicago. November, 1866 



.} 



"Rev. "W. W. Everts, D.D. — Dear Broth- 
er,— On the 26th of October, A.D. 1866, 
a committee theretofore appointed for that 
purpose, presented to the churches the follow- 



M. K. Urerts. 359 

mg preamble and resolutions, in reference to the 
death of your beloved wife, namely : 

'■' Whereas, God, in his Providence, has re- 
moved from the scenes and activities of earth, 
the beloved companion of our pastor, our Sister, 
Mrs. Margaret K. Everts, who departed this 
life on the eleventh inst., this church, desirous 
of placing upon their records some humble tes- 
timonial of the worth and excellence of the 
deceased, do therefore resolve : 

" 1st. That though to our limited understand- 
ings, this Providence seems dark and inexplica- 
ble, we nevertheless bow to the solemn mandate 
of him, who doeth all things well, and will not, 
therefore, murmur or repine, though our heads 
be bowed in grief, and our hearts smitten with 
unutterable sorrow, but in the exercise of the 
same christian faith that so eminently character- 
ized our sister, we will press on to more perfectly 
know the Lord. 

*' 2d. That in the death of our sister, our 
pastor has been bereaved of a most estimable 
and beloved companion, who, by her uniformly 
amiable deportment, her intellectual culture, 
sound judgment, wise discrimination, refined 
taste, genial companionship, and exalted piety, 
has lightened his burdens, solaced his hours of 
weariness, counseled him in his great work, con- 
tributing in no small measure to his large success 
as a minister of the Gospel of Christ. 

" 3rd. The children of our deceased sister 
have lost their most faithful counselor and friend, 
a mother, the memory of whose beautiful exam- 



360 Christian Womanhood. 

pie time can not efface, the impressions of whose 
christian walk and conversation upon their un- 
folding characters, years can not despoil. They 
sorrow, yet not as those without hope, for though 
the light that shone brightest in that happy 
dwelling, has faded from earthly view, it glows 
even now with new radiance in the realms of the 
blest ; though the voice that so sweetly cheered 
the home circle, and attended the harmonies of 
worship around the domestic altar, has escaped 
mortal ears, it even now mingles with cherubim 
and seraphim in the praises of Heaven. Hav- 
ing, before she passed away, seen all whom God 
had given her, themselves given to the Saviour, 
after the separation of a few brief years, they 
will be reunited in mansions above, of which 
their earthly home was but a faint symbol. 

" 4th. That the church has lost one of its 
purest and noblest examples of christian fidelity. 
"Whether in the prayer-meeting, or in the public 
assembly, in the social gatherings of the church, 
or in the active walks of charity and good works, 
our sister was ever present to counsel, encour- 
age and execute, of remarkable endowments of 
mind, of fervent faith and untiring zeal in her 
Master's service, her presence was every where 
a blessing, her influence refining and exalting to 
all who associated with her. Her familiar face 
we shall see no more in the prayer-circle, her 
voice no more hear in our hymns of devotion, 
but her example and her counsels will survive. 
' Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord ; yea, 



M. JT. Uveris. 361 

saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labors, 
and their works do follow them.' 

" 5th. That to our afflicted pastor and his 
sorrowing children, we tender our profoundest 
sympathy, and hereby commend him and them 
to the Spirit of divine compassion and grace. 

" 6th. That these resolutions be spread upon 
the records of the church, and that the clerk 
furnish a copy of the same to our pastor. 

" Cyeus Bentley, 
» Church Clerk." 

Also like resolutions of respect and sor- 
row were passed by the Louisville Church, 
the trustees of the University of Chicago, 
the Ladies' Baptist Educational Society, 
managers of Erring "Women's Eefuge, and 
the Sabbath school of the First Church. 

The following is the tribute of one who long 
enjoyed the fellowship of the church and the 
friendship of Mrs. E., returning after an ab- 
sence, to find her no more : 

I came, — "but she was gone ! 
The voice that oft, in cheerfulness and love, 
Had spoken words of holy faith and trust, 
Was hushed and silent now ! Her ready smile, 
Chasing the shadows from this burdened heart, 
Beguiled and cheered no more ! All seemed changed. 
Her rapt attention in the house of God 
No longer told that her whole soul drank in 
The melting words of truth and grace which fell 
Upon her ear. Her place was vacant there. 

23* 



3 62 



Christian Womanhood. 



No more her voice, in tones almost as sweet 

As those which angels use, warbled the songs 

Of Zion in our place of prayer. No more 

Our souls thrilled with the theme, as from her lips, 

In strains exultant, rose the words she loved 

So well — "In the cross of Christ I glory." 

Our voices faltered as we thought of her, 

Though well we knew that hers, hushed here below, 

"Was turned to nobler strains on high, 

To falter never more. 

How many miss and mourn for her I 
The light of heart pause on their gladsome way ; 
For she, whose bright example bade them seek 
The bliss that ne'er grows dim, no longer moves 
Among them. Those on whose bowed spirits care 
And sorrow press, shed tears of fond regret 
For her who pointed them to those blest scenes 
Where G-od for ever wipes all tears away. 
The "little ones" speak low, and cease their sport ; 
For she they loved so well they know will come 
To smile upon their guileless ways no more. 
Manhood and maidens turn aside to weep : 
She who had welcomed them to Zion's gates — 
"Whose soul was filled with joy when they in faith 
Bowed 'neath the baptismal wave — she whose prayers 
For them so oft had risen to the throne 
On high, is gone ! They weep that in the flesh 
They shall behold her welcome face no more. 
The strong in faith — the sanctified, with hopes 
Long fixed on high, and feet upon the Rock 
Of Ages, know that one who ever led 
Them on and upward is taken from their 
Ranks, — and they, too, mourn. 

The erring ones ! — Oh, they indeed have cause 
For grief! Like Him who said, "Neither do I 
Condemn," she longed to bring the wand'rers back. 
Her latest toils were for a " Refuge," where they 
Might learn of Him, the sinner's Friend, whose blood 
Can wash the darkest stains away. 



M. K. Uverts. 363 



But in her home ; — ah, there's a void which earth 
Can never fill ! The son she gave to G-od 
And trained for heaven ; the daughters dear, whom 
"With prayers and tears she nurtured for the skies — 
How do they miss the hand that led, the voice m 

That cheered, the cherished form that bowed with them 
So oft in prayer. Beloved and stricken ones ! 
That hand sweeps now a golden lyre above ■ — 
That voice responsive swells the songs of heaven ; 
That form, adoring, bends before the throne. 
Walk in her footsteps here ; so shall ye share 
Her blessedness on high. 

And the man of G-od — 
(Tread softly here ; this seems like sacred ground,) 
"Who long had taken counsel sweet with her 
"Whose presence was as sunlight in his path ! 
We may not speak his loss, nor bring a balm 
To draw the sting from sorrow such as his. 
Eather would we in silence and in tears 
Eespect a grief our words could ne'er assuage. 
We feared that he might falter in his course ; 
For strong as was the spirit, yet the flesh 
Was weak ; but when, after his great grief, he 
Came forth and stood again before his charge, 
The Everlasting Arms were around him thrown. 
Strong in Jehovah's strength he stood, with words 
Of holy trust and faith upon his lips. 
Father, we thank thee for the grace and strength 
Vouchsafed to him. Still gird him with thy might ; 
Be thou his, — own and shield him e'en till he join 
His sainted one before th' eternal throne ; 
Where they, together, side by side shall stand, 
To cast their crowns, in humble adoration, 
At the Saviour's feet. 

B. de L. F. 



